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THE 


CENTENNIAL  CELEBRATION 


TOWN  OF  CAMPTON,  N.  H., 


September  12th,  1867. 


CON^O^RD  : 
A.  Q.  JONES,  PEINTER,     -"    -     ■    -    BXCHANOE   BUILDING, 
1868.      . 


CAMP  TON    CENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION.  Q\CQ^\r 


At  the  Annual  Town  Meeting,  held  in  March,  1867,  the  town  of  Campton 
passed  the  following  vote: 

"  That  a  Committee  of  six  be  chosen  to  make  arrangements  for  cele- 
brating the  One  Hundredth  Anniversary  of  the  settlement  of  the  town." 

In  accordance  with  the  above  vote,  the  following  gentlemen  were  chosen 
as  said  Committee : 


Amos  Flint, 
David  Bartlett, 
Erasttjs  Dole, 


Stephen  Avery,  Jr., 
Thomas  S.  Pulsifer, 
John  F.  Morton. 


The  said  Committee  of  Arrangements  subsequently  took  measures  to 
carry  into  effect  the  wishes  of  the  to^vn,  as  follows  : 

The  12th  of  September,  1867,  was  selected  as  the  day  for  the  Cel- 
ebration. 

An  invitation  was  extended  to  the  Eev.  Isaac  Willey  of  Pembroke,  a 
native  of  the  town,  to  deliver  a  Historical  Address.  Mr.  Charles  Cut- 
ter was  requested  to  examine  the  town  records,  to  aid  in  procuring  ma- 
terial for  such  address. 

The  following  gentlemen  were  chosen  to  act  as  officers  on  the  occasion 
of  the  celebration : 

fresidekt  of  the  day. 

TOLMAN    WILLEY,  ESQ.,  of  Boston. 


VICE  PRESIDENTS. 


Hon.  E.  C.  Baker,  Boston, 
Jacob  Giddimo,  Esq.,  Portland, 
Sylvester  Marsh,  Littleton, 
Rev.  Austin  Willey,  California, 
B.  F.  Palmer,  LL.  D.,  Philadelphia, 
Gen.  Moses  Cook,  Laconia^ 
Moses  Bartlett,  Illinois, 
Efhraim  Cook,  Wentworth, 


John  Cook,    Campton, 
Samuel  Cook, 
Jacob  Avery, 
David  Bartlett, 
Samuel  Moulton, 
Samuel  Keniston,  ' 
Enoch  Taylor, 
P.  C  Blaisdell, 


IV.  CENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION. 

DiODATE  WlLLEY,  CamptoD,  DANIEL  AVERT,  Esq.,  CamptOD , 

Moses  Blaisdell,  "  Charles  Sticknbt,         " 

Edmund  Durgin,  "  James  Burbeck,  " 

John  Pulsifer,  "  Robert  Smith,  " 

Jacob  Adams,  "  "William  Southmatd.      " 


To  Read  Charter  of  the  Town.— Henry  W.  Blair,   Plymouth. 
Toast-Master.—CHASLBS  Cctter,  Campton. 
Chief  J(far<Aa2.— Joseph  Cook,  Campton. 


The  grounds  adjoining  the  Town  House  were  selected  for  the  place  of 
the  Celebration,  and  upon  these  were  erected  a  stand  and  seats  for  the 
speakers  and  audience  upon  the  one  side,  and  a  spacious  booth  for  the 
dinner  tables  upon  the  other. 

The  citizens  throughout  the  town  were  invited  to  furnish  the  tables  with 
a  supply  of  provisions  sufficient  for  the  expected  multitude. 

The  absent  sons  and  daughters  of  Campton,  far  and  near,  were  invited  to 
return  home  and  participate  in  the  exercises  of  the  occasion. 
The  Plymouth  Band  was  engaged  to  furnish  music. 


EXERCISES  OF  THE  MORNING. 


The  twelfth  of  September  was  ushered  in  by  a  bright  and 
beautiful  morning,  the  commencement  of  an  auspicious 
day.  At  an  early  hour  a  large  gathering  of  the  people  of 
the  town  and  others  from  abroad,  assembled  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  the  Congregational  Meeting  House,  and  were 
there  formed  into  a  procession  by  the  Chief  Marshal  and 
his  Assistants. 

After  a  series  of  marching  and  countermarching  to  the 
music  of  the  Band,  the  procession  was  led  to  the  Town 
House,  and  thereupon  the  officers  of  the  day  and  speak- 
ers were  invited  to  the  stand  and  the  audience  seated  be- 
fore them. 

The  Exercises  were  opened  by  an  appropriate  prayer  by 
the  Rev.  Daniel  Pulsifer  of  Danbury. 

Then  followed  an  Address  of  Welcome  to  such  of  the 
emigrant  sons  and  daughters  of  Campton  as  had  re- 
turned home  for  the  occasion,  by  Rev.  Quincy  Blakely. 

Original  Hymn  sung  by  the  Choir. 

Historical  Address  by  Rev.  Isaac  Willey. 

Original  Hymn  sung  by  the  Choir. 

These  Exercises  concluded,  a  recess  of  one  hour  was 
declared  and  all  present  were  invited  to  repair  to  the  ta- 
bles and  share  in  the  abundant  collation  with  which  the 
good  citizens  of  the  town  had  loaded  them  to  repletion. 
There  was  no  hesitation  to  comply  with  this  invitation, 
and  ample  justice  was  done  to  the  hospitality  which  had 
provided  the  feast.  This  interesting  and  satisfactory  part 
of  the  proceedings  being  over  the  seats  were  again  occu- 
pied, and  then  commenced  the 


6  Centennial  Celebration. 

EXERCISES    OF   THE    AFTERNOON. 

The  President  on  resuming  the  chair  entertained  the 
audience  with  an  eloquent  and  extended  address  of  more 
than  an  hour,  passing  in  review  the  character  of  the  early 
settlers  of  New  England  and  enlarging  upon  what  they 
had  accomplished,  giving  sketches  of  some  of  the  promi- 
nent early  residents  of  Campton,  reminiscences  of  his 
boyhood,  anecdotes,  &c.  It  is  regreted  that  a  sketch  of 
his  remarks  could  not  be  furnished  for  publication. 

Next  in  order  came  the  toasts  as  given  by  the  Toast- 
master,  intervals  between  which  were  enlivened  with  mu- 
sic by  the  Band. 

1 .  The  Clergymen  of  Campton. 

Responded  to  by  Rev.  Daniel  Pulsifer  of  Danbury. 

2.  The  Common  Schools  of  Campton. 

Responded  to  by  William  C.  Blair,  Esq.,  of  Laconia. 

3.  The  Sunday  Schools  of  Campton. 
Responded  to  by  Rev.  Walter  Chase  of  Woodstock. 

4.  "  How  dear  to  my  heart  are  the  scenes  of  my  child- 
hood." 

Responded  to  by  Rev.  French  Smith  of  Thornton. 

5.  The  Emigrant  Sons  and  Daughters  of  Campton. 
Responded  to   by   Davis  Baker  of  Washington  city. 

This  gentleman's  remarks  having  been  unpremeditated,  a 
sketch  has  not  been  obtained  for  publication. 

6.  The  Soldiers  of  the  Union. 

Responded  to  by  Henry  W.  Blair,  Esq.,  of  Plymouth. 

At  this  point  the  lateness  of  the  hour  precluded  the 
introduction  of  other  exercises,  and  the  meeting  was 
brought  to  a  close. 

Letters  were  received  from  the  following  gentlemen, 
natives  or  former  residents  of  Campton  : 

From  the  Rev.  Dr.  Stone  of  Concord. 

From  the  Rev.  Austin  Willey  of  California. 


Address  of  Welcome.  7 

• 

From  Hon.  E.  C.  Baker  of  Boston. 

From  B.  Fkank  Palmer,  LL.  D.,  Philadelphia. 

From  S.  D.  Baker,  Esq. 

Poem  by  B.  Frank  Palmer,  LL.  D.,  Philadelphia. 

A  specimen  of  old  fashioned  horseback  riding  was  dis- 
played before  the  company.  A  couple  came  along  riding 
double,  one  upon  the  pillion,  as  our  fathers  and  mothers 
came  through  the  woods  to  their  home  in  this  place. 

Several  articles  of  antiquity  were  exhibited.  Among 
them  was  a  mortar  in  which,  before  mills  were  erect- 
ed, the  corn  was  pounded  for  bread ;  and  there  might 
have  been  presented  a  powder-horn  beautifully  carved, 
with  appropriate  inscriptions  by  Benjamin  Baker,  when 
in  the  Revolutionary  army. 


WELCOME 


BY  REV.   QUINCT  BLAKELT. 


Absent  Sons  and  Daughters  of  Campton  here  returned : 

The  Committee  of  Arrangements  have  assigned  to  me 
the  pleasing  duty  of  welcoming  you  home  on  this  occa. 
sion. 

The  act  of  incorporation  of  this  town  dates  back  a  hun- 
dred years.  You  did  well  to  accept  the  cordial  invitation 
of  your  brothers  and  sisters  at  the  old  homestead  and 
come  home  to-day  to  assist  in  the  proper  celebration  of 
this  hundredth  anniversary.  It  is  well  to  pause,  occa- 
sionally,— once  in  a  century  at  least,  —  in  the  onward 
march  of  events  and  erect  a  monument  which  shall  per- 


8  Address  of  Welcome. 

petuate  a  knowledge ^foitr  deeds  to  fntiire  gCBerations. 
A  hundred  years  ago  our  fathers  settled  in  this  wilderness 
wild.  The  same  sky  is  indeed  over  our  heads,  the  same 
soil  is  beneath  our  feet,  but  all  else,  how  changed  !  Our 
Fathers,  where  are  they  ?  Not  one  remains.  But  a  num- 
erous progeny  are  here,  with  pleasant  memories  of  the 
past,  and  grateful  to  those  who  have  gone  before  for  the 
rich  legacies  they  bequeathed  to  them  ;  and  grateful  ought 
we  to  be  to  Almighty  God  for  his  providential  care  and 
abounding  goodness  unto  us. 

Actuated,  perhaps,  \>y  a  desire  to  see  more  of  the  world 
or  to  better  your  condition,  you  went  out  from  us ;  but, 
as  your  presence  here  to-day  plainly  indicates,  you  have 
not  ceased  to  be  interested  in  the  welfare  of  your  native 
town.  We  who  have  remained  by  the  dear  old  mother 
have  endeavored  to  do  our  work  well.  The  forests  have 
given  way  before  the  woodman's  axe,  the  hills  and  valleys 
have  been  subdued  and  cultivated,  as  you  might  infer  from 
the  appearance  of  yonder  table  ;  the  thump  of  the  carpen- 
ter's tools,  the  ring  of  the  anvil,  and  the  rattle  of  the 
loom  and  spindle  are  still  heard  within  our  borders.  A 
school-house  is  found  in  every  district,  and  not  a  person 
can  be  found  in  town,  between  the  ages  of  fourteen  and 
twenty-one  who  cannot  read  and  write.  Churches  have 
been  erected,  within  which  may  be  found  worshippers  of 
the  one  living  and  true  God,  and  where  may  be  heard  the 
'■''  Glorious  Gospel  of  the  blessed  God,"  from  Sabbath  to 
Sabbath.  We  are  on  the  whole  a  prosperous  people.  We 
have  married  and  given  in  marriage  and  tmto  us  children 
have  been  bom.  When  the  natural  increase  of  population 
has  not  been  sufficient  to  fill  the  vacancies  occasioned  by 
emigration  and  death,  there  has  been  found  enterprise 
suflftcient  to  induce  men  and  women  from  other  places  to 
come  and  settle  among  us,  and  the  adopted  children  are 
not  ashamed  of  the  born  native. 


Original  Hymn.  9 

This,  to  us,  is  a  day  of  great  rejoicing.  If  we  should 
seem  to  j^ou  a  little  too  hilarious  and  jovial,  remember  it 
is  a  high  day,  and  a  part  of  the  exuberance  of  our  joy 
arises  from  the  privilege  of  welcoming  you  home. 

Without  wearying  you  with  the  formalities  of  a  wel- 
come, in  the  name  and  in  behalf  of  the  Committee  of  the 
citizens  of  Campton,  I  bid  you  a  hearty  and  cordial  wel- 
come. Welcome  to  the  festivities  of  this  occasion.  Wel- 
come to  our  homes  and  to  all  the  enjoyments  thereof. 


ORIGINAL    HYMN. 


O  God,  to  Thee  our  voices  raise, 
The  song  of  glory  and  of  praise, 
Our  fathers  worshipped  at  Thy  throne, 
Their  children  bow  to  Thee  alone. 

We  thank  Thee  for  Thy  goodness  shown 
In  former  3'ears  which  long  have  flown, 
In  name  of  those  who  gave  us  birth 
We  thank  the  Lord  of  Heaven  and  earth. 

Thy  heart,  so  kind  in  days  of  yore 
Still  gives,  as  freely  as  before. 
Where'er  we  live,  where'er  we  roam 
Thy  hand  protects  our  native  home. 

God  of  our  Fathers,  now  to  Thee 
Let  all  the  praise  and  glory  be. 
In  Thee,  we've  found  all  good  before, 
In  Thee,  we'll  trust  forever  more. 


lO  Centennial  Celebration. 

THE  EARLY  HISTORY  OF   CAMPTON. 


BY  REV.   ISAAC   WILLET. 

Fellow  Town's-people : 

There  is  a  sentiment  in  the  human  mind  which  readily 
answers  to  such  a  call  as  you  have  extended  to  your  ab- 
sent children,  —  a  call  to  gather  with  you  to  the  graves  of 
our  fathers  and  recount,  as  far  as  we  may  be  able,  the 
events  of  their  lives.  More  than  three  generations  have 
owned  and  occupied  the  territory  of  this  town.  Here 
they  have  passed  their  lives,  —  cultivated  these  farms,  se- 
cured the  means  of  living,  and  served  their  generation. 

Here  they  have  endured  their  trials,  many  and  severe. 
Here  they  worshipped  and  trusted  the  God  of  their 
fathers,  and  from  these  dwellings  have  many  gone  up  to 
be  joined  with  the  ransomed  of  the  Lord. 

A  goodly  number  from  abroad  whose  bones  and  mus- 
cles grew  to  strength  on  these  hills  and  who  had  here 
their  early  training,  have  come  home  on  this  occasion. 
Others  would  if  they  could.  But  from  their  distant  dwell- 
ings in  the  South,  in  the  West  and  on  the  shores  of  the 
Pacific,  they  will  to-day  think  of  us  and  talk  of  us  and 
the  exclamation  will  be  heard  in  many  a  family,  "  How  I 
should  like  to  be  in  old  Campton  to-day !" 

We  are  all  happy  in  meeting  so  many  fathers  and 
mothers  and  children  of  the  place.  We  thank  the  citi- 
zens of  the  town  for  the  happy  arrangements  for  this  oc- 
casion. Whether  or  not  departed  spirits  are  conversant 
with  passing  scenes  among  men,  it  is  quite  certain  that 
they  are  conscious  beings,  and  they  who  have  gone  from 
this  place  must  remember  the  events  which  we  this  day 
commemorate. 


Condition  of  the  Country. — French   War.  11 

CONDITION   OF   THE  COUNTRY  WHEN    THE    TOWN    BEGAN  TO 
BE    SETTLED. 

To-day  our  minds  are  thrown  back  upon  the  past.  One 
hundred  years  ago,  and  what  was  the  condition  of  this 
town,  and  the  regions  adjacent  ?  A  continuous  wilderness, 
with  the  exception  of  some  small  openings,  A  few  families 
had  come  into  this  town,  a  few  into  Plymouth,  Hebron, 
Rumney,  Sandwich,  Holderness  and  Bridgewater.  But  to 
the  north  no  opening  had  been  made  for  civilized  men 
this  side  of  Canada,  except  for  three  families  who  had 
gone  fifty  miles  into  the  wilderness  to  commence  a  settle- 
ment in  what  is  now  Lancaster,  in  Coos  county.  But  in 
the  southern  portion  of  the  State,  it  is  well  known  that 
the  towns  were  settled  more  than  one  hundred  years  ear- 
lier than  in  the  interior  and  northern  portions.  The  best 
lands,  the  rich  intervales,  the  most  valuable  timber  re- 
mained untouched  for  more  than  one  hundred  years,  while 
the  people  in  the  lower  towns  secured  but  narrow  means 
of  subsistence  upon  their  worn  out  farms.  This  you  may 
take  as  an  indication  of  want  of  enterprise.  But  we  shall 
soon  see  how  their  enterprise  was  developed  under  other 
circumstances. 

THE   FRENCH   WAR. 

You  must  know  that  during  a  large  portion  of  our 
colonial  history,  the  wilderness  was  ranged  by  powerful 
tribes  of  Indians  who  were  naturally  inimical  to  those 
who  came  to  possess  their  lands,  and  who  were  known  to 
have  been  instigated  to  deeds  of  cruelty  by  the  French 
Jesuits  in  Canada.  Until  1760,  Canada  was  a  province 
of  France.  The  French  had  also  possessions  in  the  South, 
80  had  Spain,  and  the  people  were  Boman  Catholics. 
There  was  a  design,  as  there  is  reason  to  believe,  on  the 
part  of  the  people  of  that  faith,   to  unite  Canada  and 


12  Centennial  Celebration. 

Louisiana  and  other  countries  at  the  South  by  a  chain  of 
fortifications  along  the  Mississippi,  the  Ohio  and  the 
great  Lakes,  so  as  to  shut  up  the  English  possessions  and 
protestantism  within  narrow  limits  and  secure  the  vast 
regions  beyond.  This  gave  rise  to  the  French  war  in 
1755.  A  war  in  which  the  English  Colonies  took  an  ac- 
tive part,  and  the  result  of  which  disappointed  all  the 
plans  for  the  extensions  of  the  power  of  France  on  this 
continent.  Little  could  have  been  seen  at  that  time  of 
the  vast  consequences  which  were  to  result  to  the  world 
from  the  valor  of  Wolfe  and  of  his  army  in  the  battle  up- 
on the  plains  of  Abraham.  Not  the  city  of  Quebec  only 
but  the  province  came  into  the  possession  of  Great  Brit- 
tain.  Had  that  battle  terminated  differently,  had  there 
been  less  valor  in  those  soldiers,  less  heroism  in  their  com- 
mander, what  a  different  chain  of  events  must  have  fol- 
lowed !  As  it  respects  these  colonies,  the  Indians  had 
then  none  to  incite  them  to  deeds  of  cruelty.  They  were 
also  impressed  with  the  growing  strength  of  the  colonies, 
and  ceased  their  hostilities. 

EARLY    SETTLEMENTS. 

The  people  might  now  venture  into  the  vast  forests  of  New 
England.  In  their  A^arions  excursions  against  the  Indians, 
they  had  made  themselves  acquainted  with  the  country 
and  knew  where  the  best  lands  were  to  be  found.  The 
governor  of  this  State  at  that  time  was  disposed  to  en- 
courage immigration,  if  for  no  other  reason  than  the  per- 
quisites which  he  received.  In  consideration  of  a  large 
ox,  driven  from  Hampton  to  Governor  Wentworth  at 
Portsmouth,  we  are  told  that  the  territory  now  making  up 
New  Hampton  and  Center  Harbor  was  granted.  A 
fact  which  shows  the  energy  of  the  people  of  our  State  at 
this  time  and  relieves  them  from  any  just  imputation  of  a 


Clearing  the  Land. — ChaHer  of  the  Town.  13 

lack  of  it,  is  that  in  fully  one-third  of  the  towns  of  this 
State,  settlements  were  commenced  within  ten  years  after 
the  close  of  the  French  war. 

In  these  openings  which  they  had  made  in  the  forest, 
you  would  have  discovered  a  small  new  house  and  the  .be- 
giiming  of  a  family  of  ten  or  twelve  children.  Roads 
would  be  seen  to  be  marked  out,  bridges  and  mills  begin- 
ning to  be  built  in  places  where  in  a  few  years  there  would 
be  a  well  regulated  and  comfortable  community.  When 
John  Mann  and  his  wife  came  from  Hebron  in  Connecti- 
cut, to  Orford  in  this  State,  in  October,  1765,  there  was 
no  road  from  Charlestown  but  a  horse  track,  for  fifty 
miles.  He  said  that  at  that  time  there  were  but  two 
openings  in  Claremont,  one  in  Cornish,  one  in  Plainfield, 
three  in  Lebanon,  one  in  Hanover,  and  three  in  Lyme. 

CLEARING   THE    LAND. 

Could  you  have  looked  from  the  top  of  the  hills,  or 
have  been  so  elevated  in  a  balloon  as  to  have  looked  down 
upon  the  territory  making  up  our  State,  you  would  have 
seen  the  men  in  more  than  seventy  towns  cutting  into  the 
dense' forests,  felling  each  his  acres  of  trees.  At  the  dry 
season  he  would  put  fire  to  them,  and  the  smoke  from  a 
thousand  farms  would  be  seen  ascending  to  the  skies. 
The  great  logs  which  were  left  were  cut  up,  drawn  together 
into  piles  to  be  burned  in  the  night.  These,  if  they  had 
been  regarded  as  camp-fires,  would  have  indicated  an  army 
upon  every  man's  plantation.  In  this  way  was  used  up 
an  amount  of  wood  and  lumber,  which,  could  it  have  re- 
mained to  this  day,  would  have  been  a  vast  source  of 
wealth,  exceeding  in  value  the  whole  country  at  that  time. 

CHARTER    OF    THE    TOWN. 

The  town  was  originally  granted  to  Gen.  Jabez  Spen- 
cer of  East  Haddam,  Connecticut,  in  1761.     But  he,  dy- 


14  Centennial  Celebration. 

ing  before  the  needful  settlements  were  effected,  the  title 
became  invalid.  This  accounts  for  the  delay  in  the  set- 
tlement of  the  town,  a  few  families  only  being  here  for  a 
number  of  years.  But  the  heirs  of  the  first  gi-antee  and 
others  interested,  secured  a  new  charter  in  1767. 

EARLY   SETTLERS. 

The  early  inhabitants  were  mainly  from  two  sources. 
From  the  State  of  Connecticut,  near  the  mouth  of  the 
River  of  that  name,  and  from  the  State  of  Massachusetts, 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  mouth  of  the  Merrimack  River,  in- 
cluding a  number  of  towns  in  the  lower  part  of  this  State. 

The  intervales  upon  the  streams  which  flow  through  the 
town  had  strong  attractions  to  the  early  settlers. 

THE   GREAT   RIVER. 

For  a  long  time  there  was  much  inconvenience  in  pass- 
ing over  these  streams.  They  were  subject  to  sudden 
and  great  rises  of  water,  overflowing  their  banks  and 
carrying  away  bridges  and  mills.  Many  such  occurrences 
are  within  the  recollection  of  the  old  people.  One  man 
had  his  corn,  while  he  was  husking  it,  swept  into  his  cel- 
lar and  mingled  with  the  mud.  Families  have  been  taken 
from  their  houses  in  boats.  One  woman,  as  the  water 
rose,  held  her  calf  in  the  top  of  a  tree.  Property  has 
been  destroyed  and  lives  have  been  lost.  Yet  who  would 
be  willing  that  this  main  branch  of  the  Merrimack  should 
be  dried  up,  or  diverted  in  its  course  to  other  regions  ? 
In  its  onward  flow  from  all  its  branches,  it  probably  car- 
ries more  machinery  than  any  other  river  in  the  world. 
Of  it  the  late  Judge  William  M.  Richardson,  in  his  early 
daj'^s,  wrote  in  the  following  stanzas : 

Sweet  Merrimack  1    Thy  gentle  stream 
Is  fit  for  better  poet's  theme; 


TJie  First  Inhabitants  from  Connecticut.  15 

Tor  rich  thy  waves  and  gentle  too 
As  Rome's  proud  Tiber  ever  Icnew, 
And  thy  current's  placid  swell 
Would  flow  in  classic  song  as  well, 
Yet  on  thy  banks,  so  green,  so  sweet 
Where  wood  nymphs,  and  naiads  meet, 
E'er  since  creation's  earliest  dawn 
No  son  of  song  was  ever  bom ; 
Ko  muse's  fairy  feet  e'er  trod 
Thy  modest  margin's  verdant  sod ; 
And  mid  times  silent,  feathery  flight 
Like  many  a  coy  maiden,  pure  and  light 
,  Sequestered  in  some  blest  retreat  ? 

Far  from  the  city  and  the  great. 
Thy  virgin  waves,  the  vales  among 
Have  flowed  neglected  and  unsung. 

THE   FIRST   INHABITANTS   FROM   CONNECTICUT. 

The  two  men  who  came  first  to  this  town  were  Isaac 
Fox  and  "VVinthrop  Fox.  They  were  from  Connecticut. 
As  it  is  generally  believed  by  the  old,  they  came  in  the 
Spring,  1762.  It  is  reported  that  the  people  in  Stephens- 
town,  now  Franklin,  regarded  it  as  perilous  for  them  to  re- 
main in  such  a  wilderness  through  the  winter,  and  two  men 
came  up  upon  snow-shoes  to  look  to  their  wants  and  found 
them  tough  and  hearty,  living  upon  fish,  wild  meat,  and 
com  bread  made  from  corn  pounded  in  a  mortar. 

The  following  Spring  came  the  wife  of  Isaac  Fox,  his 
son  Isaac,  and  Mr.  Enoch  Taylor.  Isaac  Fox,  senior, 
settled  on  the  east  side  of  the  river,  near  where  the 
bridge  now  stands.  Isaac  Fox,  Jr.,  settled  near  on  the 
opposite  side,  and  Mr.  Taj^lor  some  two  miles  above  on 
the  west  side.  The  traditions  in  regard  to  the  time  of 
the  settlement  of  the  town  are  somewhat  conflicting. 
But  all  accounts  agree  that  when  the  first  settlers  came 
here  there  were  no  settlements  between  this  place  and 
Stephenstown  or  Franklin,  and  we  know  that  some  seven 
or  eight  families  came  to  Plymouth,  from  Hollis  in  1764. 
Fox  having  been  here  one  year  before  his  family,  would 


16  Centennial  Celebration. 

fix  the  time  of  his  coming,  as  before  stated,  in  1 762,  and  that 
of  his  family  in  1763.  This  accords  with  the  traditions 
of  the  oldest  families  in  town.  But  it  is  generallj-  be- 
lieved that  Enoch  Taylor  was  with  Mr.  Fox  that  first 
winter.  The  first  wedding  in  town  is  said  to  have  been 
solemnized  under  a  tree  in  the  open  field.  The  first  male, 
child  born  in  town  was  Benaijah,  son  of  Isaac  Fox,  2d, 
Januaiy  20,  1769.  A  daughter  of  Hobart  Spencer  was 
born  the  same  year.  The  two  sons  of  Gen.  Spencer  se- 
cured valuable  intervale  lands.  Hobart  upon  the  Pemi- 
gewasset,  and  Joseph  upon  Beebe's  River.  Among  others 
who  had  bought  a  right  of  land  in  town,  was  the  widowed 
mother  of  Abel  Willey.  He  was  seventeen  years  of  age 
when  he  came  up  with  the  Spencers  in  1766.  He  cut 
down  trees  upon  a  piece  of  land  next  above  Hobart  Spen- 
cer's, and  returned  in  the  Autumn  to  his  distant  home.  In 
the  Spring  he  came  up  again,  cleared  his  land,  raised  corn 
and  grain  and  again  spent  the  winter  at  home  in  Connecti- 
cut. In  the  Spring  of  1768,  he  came  with  his  mother  and 
sisters,  who  had  aided  in  the  purchase  of  the  right  of 
land.  This,  it  has  been  reported,  made  the  fifth  family 
in  town.  Hobart  Spencer,  with  his  family,  came,  probably, 
at  the  same  time.  The  sister  of  Abel  Willey  became  the 
wife  of  Benjamin  Hoit  and  made  the  first  family  in  Thorn- 
ton. Their  first  child  was  the  first  born  in  that  town. 
Joseph  Spencer  was  among  the  earliest  in  town.  The 
next  j^ear  after  Abel,  came  Darius  Willey  with  his  family 
of  three  children,  his  wife  being  the  sister  of  Abel.  They 
came  upon  two  horses.  The  father  and  son  upon  one 
horse,  and  the  mother  with  a  babe  in  her  arms,  and  daugh- 
ter upon  the  other,  and  bringing  with  them  articles  for 
house-keeping  and  for  farming  and  subduing  the  wildei- 
ness.  Their  journey  led  them,  as  we  have  reason  to  be- 
lieve, in  the  most  convenient  route  from  the  region  of  New 
London,  Connecticut,  to  Worcester,  Massachusetts  and  to 


First  Inhabitants  from  Connecticut.  1 7 

Nashua,  New  Hampshire,  and  then  up  the  Merrimack 
river  and  its  principal  branch,  the  Pemigewassett,  to  this 
place, — the  last  forty  miles  being  through  a  wilderness, 
and  no  road  or  bridge  over  any  stream.  They  reached 
the  town  in  the  evening,  much  fatigued,  and  when  upon 
the  hill,  as  they  were  approaching  Abel  Willey's  house, 
standing  near  where  it  now  does,  to  their  great  joy  they 
discovered  through  the  trees  the  light  of  his  fire.  They 
gave  a  shout  which  was  heard  and  returned,  and  the  echo 
has  not  ceased  in  the  ears  of  their  posterity. 

In  October  of  1769,  Darius  Willey  was  appointed  one 
of  a  committee  of  the  proprietors  of  the  town  to  lay  out 
the  land  and  to  give  titles  to  it,  to  treat  with  adjoining 
towns  as  to  boundaries — to  lay  out  roads  and  see  that 
work  was  done  upon  them.  With  him  was  associated 
William  Hobart  and  Samuel  Emerson,  Esq.  For  their 
services  they  were  to  receive  four  shillings  per  day  when 
out  sui"veying  and  three  shillings  for  other  services.  In 
this  service,  Mr.  Willey  continued  ten  or  twelve  years  and 
aided  in  laying  out  a  large  part  of  the  town.  He  died  in 
1823,  aged  91. 

Jesse  Willey  was  soon  here.  Ebenezer  Taylor  wa« 
early  in  town,  was  the  father  of  Oliver  and  Edward  and 
of  several  daughters. 

Asa  Spencer  from  East  Haddam  was  here  in  1770.  He 
went  into  the  army  in  the  Revolutionaiy  war,  and  died 
there. 

Israel  Brainard  from  East  Haddam,  was  here  as  early 
as  1772. 

Chiliab  Brainard  was  here  about  the  same  time.  They 
were  of  the  same  family  connection  with  Rev.  David  Brain- 
ard. Chiliab  Brainard,  an  active,  promising  man  with  a 
family  upon  his  hands,  become  deranged  and  remained 
so  for  many  years  and  until  his  death. 


18  Centennial  Celebration. 

FIRST   INHABITANTS   FROM   MASSACHUSETTS. 

The  settlers  from  Massachusetts  were  early  in  town. 
Ebenezer  Little,  the  elder,  from  Newburj'port,  was  a 
large  proprietor  in  the  town  and  encouraged  its  settle- 
ment. He  did  not  settle  here  himself;  his  son  Mo- 
ses came  here  and  built  mills  and  opened  a  store  as  early 
as  1768  or  1769,  at  the  place  where  the  late  Judge  Liver- 
more  afterwards  resided.  The  dwelling  house  was  built 
by  him  in  the  most  substantial  manner,  and  of  such  lum- 
ber as  cannot  now  be  obtained  in  the  place.  He  died  in 
1813,  leaving  a  property  it  was  said,  of  $60,000.  For 
more  than  half  a  century  the  place  of  his  residence, 
though  on  the  border  of  two  towns,  was  a  place  of  busi- 
ness for  a  large  region  around.  For  many  years  there 
was  neither  store  or  mills  above  this  place.  But  in  the 
changes  of  time,  the  importance  of  the  place  has  greatly 
diminished.  Under  the  influence  of  this  family,  large 
numbers  came  to  the  town  from  Newburyport  and  vicinity. 

David  Perkins  from  Hampton  and  his  wife  from  New- 
buryport, came  to  the  place  and  settled  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Mr.  Little,  and  had  charge  of  the  buildings  which 
he  was  then  erecting.  His  name  appears  for  twenty  years 
in  the  early  records  of  the  town.  He  afterwards  removed 
to  Thornton,  and  was  for  many  years  a  Deacon  in  the 
Congregational  church  in  that  place. 

Daniel  Wyatt  from  Newburyport,  came  to  the  place 
as  early  as  1769,  and  settled  somewhat  more  than  a 
mile  above  Mr.  Little's,  on  the  river.  He  became  the  mil- 
ler where  the  grain  was  ground  for  the  families  in  all  the 
region,  and  daily  walked  from  his  dwelling  to  the  mill  for 
more  than  forty  years.  He  was  as  regular  at  his  post, 
whatever  might  be  the  weather,  as  the  return  of  day. 
What  boy  during  the  first  half  century  of  the  town  did 
not  know  Deacon  Wyatt  ?    Often  has  each  one  as  he  came 


First  Inhabitants  from  Massachusetts.  19 

to  the  mill  with  his  load  upon  the  horse's  back,  received 
from  him  a  kind  word,  a  useful  suggestion  or  a  solemn 
appeal.  He  was  a  man  of  decidedly  christian  character. 
His  religious  life  commenced  under  the  preaching  of 
Whitefleld  and  was  maintained  with  unusual  integrity  to 
the  last. 

Joseph  Pulsifer  from  Ipswich,  and  his  wife  from  New- 
buryport,  came  here  in  1769.  She  was  then  eighteen 
years  of  age,  and  came  on  horse-back  upon  a  pillion,  rid- 
ing behind  another  person  and  never  having  been  upon  a 
horse  before  starting  on  their  journey  into  the  wilderness. 
They  settled  at  first  near  and  a '  little  south  of  the  church 
as  it  now  stands.  He  afterwards  sold  his  dwelling  house 
to  the^town  for  a  place  of  worship,  and  removed  to  the 
hill  in  the  south  part  of  the  town.  There  in  the  midst 
of  difficulties,  common  indeed  to  new  settlers,  but  of  which 
we  can  at  present  form  no  adequate  conception,  they 
brought  up  a  family  of  ten  children. 

Jonathan  Cone  was  among  the  early  settlers,  and  was 
an  active  citizen  for  some  twenty  years.  He  afterwards 
spent  his  life  in  Thornton. 

Nathaniel  Tupper  from  Georgetown  and  his  wife  Han- 
nah Choat  from  Essex,  came  to  town  in  1770  and  settled 
on  the  plains  where  Deacon  Clarke  now  lives.  For  a  long 
time  he  was  called  Deacon  Tupper,  though  he  never  sus- 
tained this  office,  indicating  the  public  sentiment  that  he 
might  well  have  sustained  it.  The  preaching  of  White- 
field  was  blessed  to  his  conversion  in  early  life  and  had 
an  influence  upon  the  character  of  many  other  of  the  first 
settlers  from  the  region  of  the  scene  of  his  labors  near 
the  close  of  his  life. 

Joseph  Palmer  from  Rowley,  Massachusetts,  was  in 
town  as  early  as  1770  or  1771,  and  took  an  active  part  in 
the  transactions  of  the  town.  He  settled  on  the  west 
side  of  the  river  and  near  to  it.    He  had  two  sons  and 


20  Centennial  Celebration. 

several  daughters  who  became  the  heads  of  large  families. 

The  first  town  meeting  of  which  we  have  the  record, 
was  held  in  1772,  and  is  as  follows  : 

Moses  Little,  Esq  ,  Moderator. 

Col.  Joseph  Spencer,  Tovm  Clerk. 

Capt.  Gershom  Burbank,  Moses  Little,  Esq.,  James 
Habvel,  Ebenezeb  Taylor,  Benjamin  Hickcox,  Select- 
men. 

Jonathan  Cone,  Constable. 

Samuel  Cook,  and  Samuel  Fuller,  Tythingmen. 

Nathaniel  Tupper,  and  Joseph  Pulsifer,  Fence  View- 
ers. 

David  Perkins,  and  Darius  Willet,  Sealers  of  Leather. 

William  Hobart,  and  Asa  SpenCer,  Surveyors  of  High- 
ways. 

Joseph  Palmer,  and  Joseph  Pulsifer,  Surveyors  of 
Lumber. 

Nathaniel  Tuppeb,  Surveyor  of  Brick. 

Darius  Willet,  Isaac  Fox,  Benjamin  Rug,  Hogreaves. 

Ebenezer  Fowler,  Sealer  of  Weights  and  Measures. 

Voted,  That  a  notice  of  town  meeting  hereafter  be 
posted  in  two  places. 

notices  op  the  early  settlers. 

In  the  town  records  of  1773,  there  appear  for  the  first 
time  the  names  of  Israel  Brainard,  Samuel  Holmes,  Jonah 
Chapman,  Ebenezer  Fowler,  William  Hobart.  In  1774, 
John  Southmayd,  Hobart  Spencer,  Chiliab  Brainard.  In 
1775,  Thomas  Bartlett,  John  Holmes,  Edmond  Elliot. 
In  1776,  Carr  Chase,  from  Newburyport.  In  1777,  Elias 
Cheney.  In  1779,  William  Baker,  and  Moses  Baker. 
In  1780,  Jabez  Church,  a  successful  school  teacher  for 
many  years. 

Col.  Joseph  Spencer,  son  of  Gen.  Jabez  Spencer,  was 
among  the  eaiiiest  in  town,  and  settled  on  the  faim  after- 


Notices  of  the  Early  Settlers.  21 

wards  occupied  by  Deacon  William  Baker,  and  now  used 
for  the  poor  of  the  town. 

Samuel  Holmes,  from  Hadlime,  Connecticut,  was  here 
as  early  as  1771  or  1772.  He  bought  lands  of  Joseph 
Spencer  on  Beebe's  River,  a  portion  of  intervale  of  great 
productiveness  when  it  was  new.  Young  Holmes  came 
up  in  the  spring  with  his  axe  upon  his  back,  and  went 
into  the  woods,  built  him  a  camp,  cut  down  trees  and 
cleared  land.  His  pui-pose  was  to  return  to  his  distant 
home  in  the  Fall.  But  before  he  was  ready  to  leave,  the 
weather  became  cold  and  he  needed  additional  covering 
for  the  night  and  means  for  cooking.  He  went  to  the 
store  of  Mr.  Little  to  purchase  a  blanket  and  a  kettle  for 
present  use,  and  asked  to  be  trusted  until  he  should  come 
up  again  in  the  Spring.  This,  Mr.  Little  declined  to  do, 
an  incident  to  which  Holmes,  after  he  became  one  of  the 
wealthiest  men  in  town,  was  sometimes  disposed  to  call 
the  attention  of  Little.  In  the  following  Spring  Mr. 
Holmes  came  up  with  his  wife,  she  bringing  behind  her 
on  horse-back,  her  feather-bed  and  her  copper  tea-kettle 
rolled  up  within  it.  He  made  a  table  of  a  split  log  and 
she  dried  her  cheese  upon  the  timbers  of  the  new  barn 
frame.  He  soon  became  a  man  of  consideration  among 
the  people,  and  was  appointed  to  the  first  offices  in  town. 
He  was  a  colonel  in  the  militia,  moderator  of  town  meet- 
ings and  was  the  first  Representative  of  the  town  in  the 
Legislature  of  the  State  in  1810  and  in  1811.  He  sought 
the  interests  of  the  town,  and  often  gave  important  aid 
to  young  men  in  setting  out  in  life.  He  sustained  with  a 
strong  hand  the  religious  institutions  of  the  town,  and 
was  active  in  building  the  first  meeting  house  which  was 
erected  on  the  east  side  of  the  river.  He  gave  land  for 
a  parsonage,  and  aided  in  the  erection  of  the  necessary 
buildings.  When  in  closing  up  the  business  it  was  found 
that  a  debt  still  remained,  he  said  to  his  neighbors  that  it 


33  Centennial  Celebration. 

must  be  paid.  "  If  you  will  pay  one-half  you  may  put 
the  rest  to  my  account."  Such  men  are  scarce,  but  of 
great  value  in  any  community.  He  died  in  1823,  at  the 
age  of  73.  "  The  memory  of  the  just  is  blessed,  but  the 
name  of  the  wicked  shall  rot." 

John  Southmayd,  from  Hadlime,  Connecticut,  was  in 
town  as  early  as  1773.  He  is  reported  to  have  brought 
to  the  town  .$500,  which  was  more  money  than  any  one 
had  brought  who  came  before  him.  He  settled  on  the  in- 
tervale east  of  Samuel  Holmes.  He  married  for  his  first 
wife,  Prudence,  the  youngest  sister  of  Abel  Willey,  in 
1774.  That  wedding  among  the  earliest  in  the  place,  was 
joyous  and  memorable.  It  occurred  the  day  after  the  set- 
tlement of  the  first  minister.  Rev.  Mr.  Church,  and  was 
jollowed  in  less  than  two  years  by  the  death  of  the  young 
wife  and  mother.  His  second  wife  was  the  daughter  of 
Deacon  Baker.  By  his  superior  education  and  mechani- 
cal skill.  Esquire  Southmayd  was  able  to  make  himself 
useful  to  his  neighbors  and  townsmen.  He  was  a  justice 
of  the  peace  and  town  clerk  for  a  long  time.  He  was  the 
only  surveyor  and  a  good  carpenter.  He  and  his  neigh- 
bor Holmes  were  from  the  same  town  in  Connecticut.  On 
one  occasion  they  visited  there  together  and  came  back 
with  different  political  beai'ings,  the  one  inclining  to  the 
Federalist  party  and  the  other  to  the  Democratic.  When 
the  inquiry  was  made  "how  this  came  about?"  the  answer 
was  "  they  attended  different  schools."  Esquire  South- 
mayd was  a  leading  politician.  It  is  said  of  him  that  he 
voted  the  Democratic  ticket  when  no  other  man  in  town 
voted  with  him. 

Samuel  Cook,  from  Newburyport,  came  to  town  in  1770. 
He  settled  on  the  west  side  of  the  river  where  Mr.  Bick- 
ford  now  lives.  He  had  a  large  family.  His  children, 
who  became  heads  of  families,  were  Samuel,  Moody,  Cut- 
ting, Charles,  and  Eplu-aim.     One  daughter  became  the 


Notices  of  the  Early  Settlers.  23 

wife  of  Edmond  Elliot,  afterward  of  Thornton,  and  the 
other  of  Edmond  March.  Mr.  Cook  and  his  wife  died  so 
near  together  in  1 790  that  they  were  both  buried  in  one 
grave. 

Gershom  Burbank,  from  Newburyport,  was  one  of  the 
earliest  in  town.  He  settled  on  the  east  side  of  the  river 
in  the  north  part  of  the  town.  He  had  previously  been 
in  the  French  war  and  with  the  army  at  the  taking  of 
Quebec.  But  not  in  the  battle,  for  General  Wolfe  did 
not  allow  the  colonial  troops  to  ascend  with  him  to  the 
plains  of  Abraham.  We  afterwards  find  Mr.  Burbank 
ready,  at  the  call  of  his  country,  at  the  invasion  of  Bur- 
goyne  in  1777.  He  was  in  the  regiment  of  Colonel  Chase, 
was  1st  Lieutenant  in  the  Company  of  Captain  Willough- 
by  of  Plymouth.  Cutting  Favor  of  New  Chester,  was 
2d  Lieutenant.  He  afterwards  held  a  captain's  commis- 
sion, and  was  known  for  a  long  tjme  as  Captain  Burbank. 
He  was  often  one  of  the  selectmen  of  the  town,  and  in 
other  important  offices. 

William  Baker,  from  Epping,  was  in  town  in  1777  and 
probably  earlier.  He  was  a  man  of  mature  years  when 
he  came  to  the  place,  and  was  known  as  a  christian  man. 
He  was  a  delegate  to  the  first  convention  for  the  forma- 
tion of  a  State  Government,  held  at  Concord,  1777.  He 
was  early  appointed  Deacon  of  the  Church,  and  continued 
in  this  office  while  he  lived.  He  died  November  28, 1814, 
about  fifteen  minutes  before  the  great  earthquake. 

Col.  Moses  Baker,  brother  of  William,  came  to  the 
town  in  1778,  from  Candia,  and  was  originally  from  Ep- 
ping. He  had  sustained  many  important  offices,  and  was 
able  to  make  himself  highly  useful  in  this  new  town.  He 
had  taken  an  active  part  in  the  interests  of  the  country, 
as  the  war  drew  on,  and  is  known  to  have  been  in  the 
command  of  a  company  of  six  weeks'  men,  in  Candia,  in 
1775,  called  out  by  the  Committee  of  Safety.     He  was,  as 


24  Centennial  Celebration. 

is  believed,  in  the  army  at  the  time,  if  not  in  the  battle  at 
Bunker  Hill,  during  the  early  part  of  the  war.  He  was 
the  Representative  of  this  town  in  the  Convention  at 
Concord  in  1781.  He  afterwards  represented  the  three 
towns  of  Campton,  Thornton,  and  Holderness,  in  the 
Legislature  of  the  State  for  several  years  in  succes- 
sion. An  incident  is  related  of  him,  showing  the  pleasant 
intercourse  which  he  had  with  the  people  of  the  town.  He 
became  paralytic  in  his  advanced  years.  One  side  of 
him  being  disabled,  —  but  a  man  of  much  dignity  in  his 
personal  appearance.  With  his  wife  behind  him  upon  a 
horse,  as  was  the  custom  of  riding  in  those  days,  he  called 
to  spend  an  afternoon  at  a  neighbor's,  the  late  Deacon  Da- 
vid Bartlet.  The  latter  was  engaged  as  he  often  was,  in 
making  shoes.  The  Colonel  would  by  no  means  interrupt 
his  work,  but  sat  with  him.  Dea.  Bartlet  was  anxious  to 
make  some  inquiries  of*him  in  regard  to  his  spiritual  in- 
terest. But  as  he  was  then  a  young  man,  he  felt  a  diflfi- 
culty  in  approaching  a  man  of  his  years  and  standing  in 
the  community.  At  length  he  frankly  told  him  how  he 
felt  in  reference  to  speaking  to  him  of  his  salvation.  The 
reply  of  Colonel  Baker  was,  "  It  is  for  this  purpose  that 
I  have  called  upon  you."  *'  This,"  said  Deacon  Bartlett, 
*'  was  the  happiest  afternoon  I  ever  spent."  Colonel  Ba- 
ker united  with  the  chi-istian  church  in  1802,  and  became 
an  earnest  christian  man.  In  reference  to  this  change 
which  took  place  in  his  advanced  years,  he  was  accustom- 
ed to  speak  with  admiring  gratitude.  "  I  have  had  many 
warnings  and  trials  in  the  loss  of  friends  and  of  property, 
but  nothing  has  moved  me  to  seek  my  salvation  until  God 
appeared  in  my  late  trial  and  cut  me  in  two  and  paral3'^zed 
one  half  of  me." 

Benjamin  Baker,  brother  of  the  above,  was  a  patriot  of 
the  Revolution.  He  was  in  the  war  at  the  commencement 
of  it,  and  suffered  much.    He  settled  in  this  town  on  the 


Centennial  Celebration.  25 

west  side  of  the  river,  but  died  early  from  his  exposure 
in  the  army. 

INCIDENTS   OF  THE   EARLY  SETTLEMENT. 

The  incidents  connected  with  the  removal  of  the  early 
inhabitants  from  their  former  homes  to  this  remote  wilder- 
ness town,  are  many,  and  would  be  of  great  interest  did 
we  know  them.  Had  our  mothers  and  grandmothers 
given  us  in  ivriting  the  stories  which  they  have  so  often 
told  us,  we  might  have  had  a  rich  treat  to-day.  Some 
general  facts  we  gather  from  their  descendants.  The  ear- 
ly settlers  were  almost  all  young  people, — the  men  from 
eighteen  or  nineteen,  to  twenty-one  or  twenty-two,  and 
the  women  still  younger. 

What  think  you,  young  men  of  the  present  time,  of 
starting  off  some  hundreds  of  miles  into  the  wilderness, 
with  your  axe  upon  your  back,  to  make  a  home  for  your- 
selves, —  and  such  a  wilderness  as  was  found  here ! 
What  would  the  mothers  of  these  times  say  to  sending 
their  daughters  out  as  our  grandmothers  went,  taking  with 
them  nothing  but  what  could  be  carried  on  hors^-back ! 
But  bravely  did  our  ancestors  encounter  the  hardships 
required  of  them,  and  we  are  enjoying  the  benefits  of  them. 
For  a  few  years  after  the  first  settlers  came  here,  they  were 
obliged  to  go  to  Concord  to  mill,  a  distance  of  fifty  miles 
through  the  woods. 

An  incident  is  related  of  one  of  the  Scotch  people,  who 
were  early  settled  above,  upon  this  river,  in  the  town  of 
Thornton.  He  had  been  to  Concord,  with  his  hand-sled, 
to  mill.  On  his  return  he  spent  the  night  in  this  town, 
and  chose  to  live  on  his  own  provisions.  He  made  of  his 
corn-meal  a  thin  pudding,  and  to  his  gratification,  was 
furnished  with  a  little  salt,  which  in  those  times  it  was 
difficult  to  procure,  and  his  remark  was  that  he  pitied  no 


26  Without  a  Doctor. 

man  who  had  Indian  meal  and  salt.  There  were  times 
when  crops  failed,  and  then,  as  the  settlers  had  no 
other  source  of  supply,  the  stock  of  provisions  became 
short.  Two  men  were  lately  living  who  often  related 
that  their  father,  in  a  time  of  scarcity,  went  across  these 
east  mountains,  to  Sandwich,  for  meal,  a  distance  of 
a  dozen  miles  at  least,  and  brought  it  home  upon 
his  back,  and  that  their  mother  quickly  made  a  johnny 
cake  and  sent  it  into  the  field  to  them  where  they  were 
at  work.  Their  united  testimony  was  that  no  morsel  they 
ever  afterwards  ate  was  as  good.  But  except  in  a  few 
such  seasons,  our  fathers  and  their  families  had  a  supply 
of  healthful  food,  and  our  mothers  clean  and  neat  houses, 
and  no  food  was  ever  as  good  as  that  which  they  prepared 
for  their  children.  The  game  taken  in  these  woods  was 
of  great  importance  to  the  early  settlers.  The  moose, 
the  deer,  and  the  bear,  to  say  nothing  of  other  kinds, 
were  common,  and  our  fathers  were  skilful  hunters.  Ho- 
bart  Spencer,  a  man  of  great  strength,  on  one  occasion  is 
said  to  have  gone  up  to  the  foot  of  Moosehillock,  where 
the  moose  was  plentj'^,  and  brought  home  upon  his  back 
his  own  weight  in  moose  meat.  Colonel  Webster  of  Ply- 
mouth, is  said  to  have  had,  at  one  time,  fifteen  barrels. 
Fish  were  then  abundant  in  these  streams.  The  salmon 
was  frequently  taken  in  the  Pemigewasset. 

WITHOUT   A   DOCTOR. 

You  will  be  disposed  to  ask,  perhaps,  how  the  people' 
did,  when  sick,  before  any  doctor  came  to  town.  I  can- 
not say,  but  it  is  quite  certain  that  they  raised  up  large 
families,  enjoyed  better  health  and  lived  longer  than  the 
generations  in  our  time.  Not  in  all'  cases,  because  they 
had  no  doctor,  but  because  their  habits  of  life  favored 
health  and  longevity.     In  the   times  of  their  necessities 


Articles  of  Food  and  Clothing.  27 

they  aided  each  other,  and  we  fear  that  the  kindnesses  and 
hospitalities  of  those  days  are  but  little  known  among  us. 
One  of  the  earliest  women  on  the  ground,  a  widow  of 
mature  years,  though  not  trained  to  the  medical  art,  was 
accustomed  to  go  when  called,  by  day  or  by  night,  be  the 
weather  or  the  traveling  what  it  might,  on  horse-back  or 
on  a  handsled,  over  snow-drifts  and  through  woods,  and 
by  her  kind  attentions,  a  large  part  of  the  first  genera- 
tion in  this  and  neighboring  towns,  were  aided  in  first 
breathing  the  vital  air  and  seeing  the  light  of  day. 

ARTICLES   OF   FOOD    AKD    CLOTHING. 

The  articles  of  food,  as  given  in  another  town,  are  be- 
lieved to  have  been  common  in  this.  Bread  was  made  of 
rye,  or  rye  and  Indian  meal.  Wheat  was  raised  to  a  limit- 
ed extent.  Boiled  pork  and  beef,  broth,  bean  porridge, 
Indian  pudding,  boiled  potatoes  and  turnips.  Potatoes, 
however,  were  not  largely  raised.  Three  bushels  being 
regarded  as  a  great  supply.  Milk  was  much  used  when 
it  could  be  had.  For  an  exchange,  sweetened  cider  with 
toasted  bread  was  taken.  Tea  and  coflTee  were  very  little 
used. 

For  clothes,  men  who  had  attained  their  growth,  had  a 
decent  coat,  vest,  and  small  clothes  or  breeches,  knee- 
buckles,  ^nd  shoe-buckles.  Only  old  men  wore  gi-eat 
coats  and  boots,  which  usually  lasted  for  life.  They  wore 
thick  leather  shoes,  woolen  shirts  in  winter,  and  linen 
or  tow  in  summer,  and  a  silk  handkerchief  for  the  neck, 
which  would  usually  last  ten  years.  Shoes  and  stockings 
were  not  usually  worn  by  the  young  in  summer.  As  for 
boys,  when  they  left  off"  their  petticoats,  they  put  on 
breeches.  This  was  the  practice  until  pantaloons  were 
introduced,  which  were  called  tongs.  Young  men  never 
thought  of  great  coats  in  those  days. 


28  Centennial  Celebration. 

As  for  the  women,  old  and  young,  they  wore  flannel  or 
pressed  cloth  gowns  in  winter.  They  were  generally  con- 
tent with  one  calico  dress.  They  wore  checked  aprons 
of  linen.  They  wore  high  heeled  shoes  with  peaked  toes 
'turned  up  at  the  point.  As  for  bonnets,  I  can  give  no 
information.  They  could  not  have  been  smaller  than 
those  now  worn. 

CARRIAGES. 

There  were  no  carriages  for  more  than  forty  years,  and 
if  there  had  been  there  were  no  roads  or  bridges  for  them. 
Colonel  Holmes  procured  the  first  chaise  and  drove  it  into 
town  on  his  return  from  the  General  Court  in  Concord  in 
1811.  Many  of  3^ou  can  speak  of  the  first  waggon  you 
ever  saw.  They  were  not  in  use  when  I  left  town  fifty 
3^ears  ago.  All  rode  on  horse-back,  if  they  rode  at  all  in 
summer.  At  every  church  and  public  place  and  at  almost 
every  man's  door,  was  the  horse-block.  A  place  prepared 
especially  for  women  from  which  to  mount  the  horse.  As 
for  railroad  cars,  who  had  ever  thought  of  them?  Warm, 
comfortable  rooms,  carpeted  and  cushioned,  and  many 
joined  together,  filled  with  jolly  folks,  moving  through 
the  country  at  the  rate  of  twenty  miles  to  the  hour — 
among  rocks  and  stiimps  and  trees,  over  hills  and 
through  the  valleys  and  drawn  by  a  boiling  teakettle.  The 
thought  would  have  been  ridiculous  to  them.  But  all  this 
is  now  realized,  and  many  of  you  have  taken  stock  in  them. 
As  well  might  our  fathers  haA'e  conceived  of  a  railroad  to 
the  top  of  the  White  Mountains,  or  to  the  moon. 

REVOLUTIONARY   WAR. 

The  period  of  the  revolutionary  war  was  a  season  of 
trial  to  the  new  settlers.    They  had  but  recently  come  and 

Sylvester  Marsh,  a  native  of  this  town,  is  the  originator  and  agent  for 
the  construction  of  a  railroad  to  the  top  of  Mount  Washington.  One  half 
of  it  is  built.    Success  attend  him. 


Revolutionary  Soldiers. — Bunker  Hill.  29 

gathered  around  them  a  few  of  the  comforts  and  conven- 
iencies  of  life.  But  many  of  them  had  not  paid  for  their 
land,  and  the  taxes,  incident  to  the  war,  fell  heavily  upon 
them.  One  man,  at  least,  with  a  growing  family,  pro- 
posed to  Esquire  Little  to  give  up  his  land  and  his  home. 
But  being  a  cabinet-maker,  he  was  encouraged  to  work 
the  boards  which  were  here,  prepared  from  the  birch  and 
the  maple.  In  this  way  he  relieved  himself  and  became 
useful  to  his  townsmen. 

EEVOLUTIONARY    SOI4DIERS. 

This  town  is  said  to  have  furnished  ten  soldiers  for  the 
war,  besides  those  called  at  Burgoyne's  invasion.  Their 
names  so  far  as  we  have  them  were  :  John  Cannon,  John 
Mayloy,  Jeremiah  Archibald,  Silas  Fox,  Uriah  Fox,  Asa 
Spencer,  Edward  Taylor,  and  Oliver  Taylor.  Of  the  ten 
soldiers,  five  are  reported  to  have  died  in  the  service, 

BUNKER   HILL. 

It  is  remarkable  that,  at  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill, 
which  aroused  the  whole  country  to  the  great  conflict,  the 
cannon  should  have  been  heard  so  far  as  to  this  town. 
But  "  it  was  distinctly  heard,  by  applying  the  ear  to  the 
ground,"  says  Dr.  Whiton,  in  his  history  of  the  State, 
"  at  Hanover,  at  Haverhill,  and  Plymouth,"  and  I  may 
add,  in  this  place.  We  have  had  such  testimony,  from 
those  then  living  here,  as  cannot  be  doubted. 

burgoyne's  invasion. 

In  the  progress  of  the  war,  the  British  commander  in 
Canada,  General  Burgoyne  made  an  advance  upon  this 
northern  region  which  created  great  alarm.  He  came  down 
through  New  York,  and  was  approaching  Vermont,  when 
Gen.  Stark  was  sent  out  by  the  Legislature  of  New  Hamp- 


80  Centennial  Celebration. 

shire,  to  oppose  him.  General  Burgoyne  had  a  powerful 
army  made  up  in  part  of  Hessian  soldiers  from  Germany. 
He  was  confident  of  success.  He  had  the  tories  for  scouts 
and  for  spies,  and  an  array  of  savages  in  his  train.  Gen- 
eral Stark  had  collected  his  troops  at  Bennington,  in  Ver- 
mont, on  the  ninth  of  August,  1777,  and  soon  ascertained 
that  a  large  detachment  of  Burgoyne's  arm}'  was  approach- 
ing in  command  of  Colonel  Baum.  After  receiving  a 
small  reinforcement  of  Vermont  militia,  making  his  whole 
force  sixteen  hundred,  he  made  an  attack  upon  them, 
and  after  a  short  conflict  compelled  them  to  retreat. 
Two  hundred  and  thirty  Hessians  lay  dead  upon  the  field  ; 
more  than  seven  hundred  prisoners  were  taken  and  among 
them  Colonel  Baum,  who  was  mortally  wounded.  This, 
as  Mr.  Jefferson  said  in  his  letter  to  General  Stark,  in  af- 
ter years,  was  the  first  link  in  the  chain  of  successes  which 
led  to  the  surrender  of  Burgoyne's  army  on  the  seven- 
teenth of  October  following,  and  it  may  be  added,  was 
the  first  guarantee  of  the  final  attainment  of  American 
Independence.  This  event  not  only  gave  courage  to  the 
country,  but  decided  the  French  Court  to  acknowledge 
our  Independence,  and  to  aid  us  in  the  conflict.  This  con- 
flict brought  Lafayette  to  our  shores.  The  approach  of 
Burgoyne's  army  occasioned  a  call  for  men  from  this 
town.  It  reached  here  on  Saturday  and  the  men  were  to 
march  on  Monday  morning.  One  man,  a  careful  observer 
of  the  Sabbath,  was  compelled  to  spend  the  day  in  mak- 
ing himself  a  pair  of  shoes.  They  went  to  Vermont,  and 
hearing  of  the  victory,  returned  to  their  homes. 

THE   TORIES. 

The  tories,  j^ou  know,  were  numerous  in  the  early  part 
of  the  war.  They  were  men  who  had  been  true  to  their 
King  and  to  their  country,  and  could  not  so  readily  em- 
bark in  the  interests  of  this  new  Republic.     They  were 


Politics  of  the  Town.  31 

found  among  all  classes  of  the  communitj^,  —  ministers, 
lawyers  and  statesmen.  They  became  objects* of  hatred 
and  derision.  Governor  Wentworth  fled  from  the  State 
and  country  rather  than  encounter  the  rising  spirit  of  lib- 
erty. Among  the  Scotch  people  in  Thornton,  there  were 
two  brothers,  at  one  time,  deliberating  which  side  to  join. 
They  are  represented  to  have  been  honest  and  faithful 
men.  The  one  doubting  the  success  of  the  colonies,  went 
to  Canada  and  joined  the  British  army.  The  other  was 
called  out  to  meet  Burgoyne.  They  met  after  his  capture, 
the  one  a  prisoner  of  war,  to  be  sent  to  England  to  be 
exchanged  ;  the  other  a  triumphant  American,  to  return 
to  his  family.  Tories  handcuffed,  tied  together  by  a  rope, 
and  that  to  a  horse's  tail,  and  marched  off  to  the  tune  of 
Yankee  doodle. 

POLITICS    OF   THE   TOWN. 

Among  the  citizens  of  this  town  great  harmony  of  politi- 
cal feeling  and  action  prevailed  in  their  early  history. 
Washington  was  the  spontaneous  choice  of  the  whole  peo- 
ple of  the  country  for  their  first  chief  magistrate.  But 
no  other  one  was  ever  elevated  to  this  office  without  op- 
position. 

Two  parties  were  started  in  "Washington's  administra- 
tion, known  afterwards  by  the  names  of  Federalist  and 
Republican.  The  one  advocating  a  strong  general  gov- 
ernment, and  the  other  a  larger  measure  of  liberty.  The 
one  made  up  of  the  men  of  wealth,  character  and  influence  ; 
the  other  of  young  men,  mechanics  and  the  poorer  class, 
and  also  of  the  planters  of  the  South.  Under  different 
names  two  parties  have  ever  since  continued.  The  vote 
of  this  town  was  given  for  the  Federal  candidate,  without 
dissent,  up  to  1801. 

About  this  time  two  of  the  leading  men  of  the  town 
made  a  visit  together  to  their  native  State,  Connecticut, 


32  Centennial  Celebration. 

and  came  back  advocates  for  different  political  systems. 
The  inquiry  was  made,  why  it  was  so  ?  The  answer  was 
*'  that  they  attended  different  political  schools.  Then  the 
minister  of  the  town  took  an  open  stand  in  favor  of  the 
Republican,  or  as  it  is  now  known,  the  Democratic  party. 
From  this  time  a  small  but  increasing  portion  of  the  votes 
were  cast  for  that  ticket. 

In  1802,  the  vote  of  the  town  stood  83  to  4.  In  1803, 
115  to  17.     In  1812,  107  to  20.     In  1818,  132  to  23. 

In  1829,  Jacob  Giddings  was  Moderator ;  Ebenezer  Lit- 
tle, Representative.  The  vote  for  Governor  stood  124  for 
Bell,  and  62  for  Pierce. 

In  1830,  Ebenezer  Little  was  Representative.  Vote  for 
Governor  stood  114  for  Upham,  and  77  for  Harvey. 

In  1831,  John  Keniston,  Representative.  Vote  for 
Governor  stood  100  for  Dinsmore,  and  106  for  Bartlett. 

INTEREST   IN   EDUCATION. 

The  education  of  the  young  has  ever  been  an  impor- 
tant object  with  the  citizens  of  this  town,  as  their  appro- 
priations for  this  object  from  year  to  year  will  show.  As 
has  been  seen,  the  charter  of  the  town  secured  lands  for 
the  support  of  schools. 

The  first  school  taught  by  a  man,  was  kept  in  the  house 
of  Col.  Baker,  by  Mr.  Rawson,  a  young  man  from  Con- 
necticut, not  far  from  1780.  This  was  the  only  school 
which  many  of  the  first  generation  of  the  town  ever  at- 
tended. Some  short  schools  were  afterwards  attended  in 
other  places.  This  deficiency  in  the  means  of  education 
was  made  up  to  the  young  by  the  fidelity  of  their  parents, 
particularly  by  the  mothers.  The  mothers  may  be  said  to 
have  been  the  educators  of  the  first  generation  in  this 
town.  They  required  the  word  of  God  to  be  read  to  them, 
chapter  after  chapter,  daily,  and  when  it  was  read  through 
it.was  begun  again.     A  book  better  adapted  to  the  pur- 


School  Teachers.  3d 

poses  of  education  never  has  been  prepared.  They  were 
taught  also  to  spell  their  mother  tongue,  as  the  records  of 
the  town  and  other  public  documents  will  show.  In  after 
time  there  were  two  school  districts  in  town,  one  on  each 
side  of  the  river.  They  have  since  been  increased  from 
time  to  time,  until  we  fear  they  have  become  injuriously 
small. 

SCHOOL   TEACHERS. 

Many  excellent  teachers  are  remembered,  and  many 
there  were,  doubtless,  who  are  not  remembered,  whose 
services  have  been  worth  more  to  the  j^outh  of  this  place 
than  the  compensation  which  they  have  received. 

Among  the  early  female  teachers  was  Miss  Sally  Chapin, 
the  daughter  of  Rev.  Mr.  Chapin.  With  her  kind  and 
gentle  spirit  and  her  skill  in  teaching,  she  did  much  in 
tbe  formation  of  the  intellectual  and  religious  character 
of  her  pupils.  The  speaker  is  indebted  to  her  in  this  re- 
spect. She  lived  to  advanced  years,  and  left  some  three 
or  four  thousand  dollars  for  the  benefit  of  the  Freewill 
Baptist  denomination. 

Among  the  men  who  early  taught  here  was  Master 
Church,  as  everybody  called  him ;  for  a  long  time  a  useful 
citizen  of  this  town,  and  afterwards  of  Thornton.  Mas- 
ter Norris  was  a  long  time  a  teacher  in  this  place.  He 
was  a  good  reader,  good  in  arithmetic  and  an  unusually 
good  penman.  He  did  much  towards  the  education  of  the 
young  of  his  day,  and  left  an  impression,  if  not  on  their 
minds,  yet  on  their  hands  quite  skin  deep.  The  late 
Deacon  Allen,  of  Lebanon,  taught  in  the  village  with 
good  success,  —  more  than  fifty  years  ago. 

Col.  Enoch  Colby,  when  he  gave  himself  to  the  work, 
was  a  good  teacher.  Mr.  Davis  Baker  did  good  service 
in  this  respect.  Peabody  Rogers,  Esq.,  a  young  man  of 
precocious  intellect,  taught  in  this  town  to  great  advan- 


34  Centennial  Celebration. 

tage.  A  former  citizen  of  this  town,  Jacob  Giddings, 
Esq.,  now  of  Portland,  Maine,  was  for  many  years  a  suc- 
cessful teacher  in  this  town.  Many  young  men  from 
Dartmouth  College,  have  taught  here  at  different  times 
and  given  elevation  to  the  schools.  Among  them  was  the 
Rev.  Isaac  Rogers,  for  forty  j^ears  the  pastor  of  the  church 
in  Farmington,  Maine.  Rev.  J.  B.  Richardson,  D.D.,  a  dis- 
tinguished minister  and  agent  of  the  American  Bible  So- 
ciety in  Central  New  York,  taught  the  district  school  in  the 
centre  of  the  town,  and  music  at  the  same  time.  Many 
other  valuable  men  and  many  excellent  females,  who  have 
at  different  times  benefitted  this  town  by  their  labors  as 
teachers,  it  would  be  pleasant  to  call  up  before  us,  if  we 
had  the  needful  information. 


DARTMOUTH    COLLEGE. 

It  is  a  fact  of  some  interest  that  an  effort  was  made  by 
the  proprietors  to  secure  the  establishment  of  Dartmouth 
College  in  this  town.  A  committee  was  chosen  in  1 769 
to  visit  Dr.  Wheelock,  and  invite  him  to  visit  the  place 
which  it  is  said  he  did,  for  the  purpose  of  examining  its 
advantages  for  the  College. 

holmes'   PLYMOUTH    ACADEMY. 

It  is  well  known  that  Colonel  Holmes  more  than  fifty 
years  ago  gave  $500  as  the  beginning  of  a  fund  for  an 
Academy  in  Plymouth.  Such  an  institution,  bearing  his 
name,  had  been  established  and  was  highly  beneficial  to 
all  this  part  of  the  country.  But  we  are  not  informed 
that  any  addition  to  this  was  ever  made,  and  we  ask  to- 
day, where  is  Holmes'  Plymouth  Academy  ?  and  where  are 
its  funds? 


Social  Library. ^-Prospects  of  Young  Men.         35 

THE    SOCIAL  LIBRARY. 

A  social  library  was  early  established  in  this  town.  It 
is  well  known  that  Dr.  Belknap,  the  early  historian  of 
our  State,  urged  this  object  upon  the  attention  of  all  the 
new  towns  and  that  Dr.  Emmons,  who  first  preached  the 
gospel  in  this  town,  set  forth  its  importance  in  a  dis- 
course of  great  ability. 

Rev.  Mr.  Church  had  an  important  agency  in  establish- 
ing the  library  in  this  town  about  the  time  of  the  close  of 
his  ministry  here.  It  was  increased  from  time  to  time  by 
a  tax  on  its  members,  and  contained  at  times  three  hun- 
dred volumes.  It  embraced  few,  beside  substantial  works. 
It  contained  valuable  histories,  travels  and  biographies.  A 
large  portion  of  the  5'oung  people  made  themselves  famil- 
iar with  Rollin's  Ancient  History.  It  was  well  supplied 
with  the  theology  of  New  England,  and  with  some  of  the 
best  foreign  works.  The  young  people  of  the  town  read 
these  books.  It  was  common  for  them  to  have  some  one 
volume  on  hand,  which  in  due  time  was  returned  for  another. 
Not  a  few  prided  themselves  in  having  read  through  the 
library.  Their  leisure  hours  and  their  evenings  were 
given  to  such  employments.  It  was  a  matter  of  deep 
regret  to  the  sons  and  daughters  of  this  town  abroad, 
that  this  library  should  have  been  divided  among 
the  proprietors.  We  venture  to  suggest  the  inquiry 
whether  many  of  these  books  cannot  be  called  in  again, 
others  added  to  them,  and  the  library  re-established. 

PROSPECTS   OF   YOUNG    MEN. 

Fifty  years  ago  and  previously  the  young  men  of  the 
town,  as  they  looked  forward  to  a  settlement  in  life,  had 
their  eye  upon  some  piece  of  new  and  uncultivated  land 
for  a  farm  and  a  home.  To  secure  this,  after  they  were 
of  age,  /ree,  as  they  called  it  at  twenty-one,  they  would 


86  Centennial  Celebration. 

work  for  some  man  who  wished  to  hire,  for  $100  a  year  to 
secure  the  means  of  buying  their  land  and  of  starting  in 
the  world.  Colonel  Holmes  and  other  leading  men  took 
pleasure  in  aiding  such  enterprises.  This  continued  the 
order  of  things  until  the  land  was  so  far  taken  up  as  to 
afford  no  encouragement  of  this  kind.  Other  young  men 
sought  employment  in  the  lower  towns  and  in  our  cities, 
from  whence  they  did  not  always  return.  The  West  has 
opened  to  us  a  vast  field  of  emigration  and  many  have 
left  this  town  for  those  prairies.  The  name  of  your  town 
has  been  transferred  to  one  of  the  towns  in  Illinois. 

YOUNG  WOMEN. 

The  factories  have  given  at  different  times  employment 
to  a  large  number  of  young  women  of  the  town.  It  is 
believed  that  there  were  at  one  time  forty  young  women 
£rom  this  town  in  Lowell. 

INDUSTRY  AND  TEMPERANCE. 

The  people  of  the  town,  it  hardly  need  be  said,  have 
been  an  industrious  people.  They  must  have  been,  to 
have  lived,  yet  they  have  secured  a  large  share  of  the 
comforts  of  life  for  themselves  and  families.  Many  have 
obtained  independence  and  wealth.  Poverty  has  hardly 
been  known  here.  The  people  of  the  town  have  generally 
been  temperate.  This  was  eminently  true  of  the  early 
settlers,  and  continued  so  long  as  the  penalty  for  getting 
drunk  was  to  dig  up  a  pine  stump.  But  when  taverns 
were  licensed  to  sell  intoxicating  drinks,  one  on  each  side 
of  the  river,  and  when  the  stores  kept  them  for  the  free 
use  of  the  people,  their  habits  suffered,  valuable  citizens 
were  in  danger  and  were  saved  only  by  the  temperance 
reform.  In  this  place,  this  work  has  been  thorough  and 
of  incalculable  benefit. 


Doctors  of  the  Town.  3^ 


DOCTORS   OF   THE   TOWN. 

We  would  not  forget  on  this  occasion  to  notice  the 
men  of  skill  in  medical  science,  who  have  attended  to  the 
wants  of  the  sick  and  the  dying.  Doctors  Rogers  and 
Robins  of  Plymouth,  and  Nichols  of  Thornton,  practised 
in  this  place  before  any  physician  was  established  here. 
Jeduthan  Clough  from  Canterbury,  was  the  first  doctor 
in  the  place.  He  settled  here  in  1802,  and  lived  in  the 
village.  Doctor  Angler  was  the  next,  and  he  lived  also 
in  the  village.  The  third  was  Robert  Morrison.  He 
came  here  in  1814,  and  died  in  1819.  He  was  a  young 
man  of  a  genial  spirit,  of  attractive  manners  and  well 
skilled  in  his  profession.  He  secured  in  an  unusual  de- 
gree, the  esteem  and  confidence  of  the  people.  He  was 
skilled  in  music  and  gathered  the  young  people  around 
him  in  the  cultivation  of  it.  In  the  revival  of  181.5,  he 
was  among  the  number  who  took  a  stand  for  Christ  and 
was  instrumental  in  leading  others  to  the  same  decision. 
His  sudden  death  was  the  occasion  of  general  mourning. 

Succeeding  him  was  Dr.  John  Kimball.  He  had  prac- 
tised in  the  north  part  of  the  State,  had  returned  to 
Hanover  his  native  town  in  feeble  health.  Application 
was  made  by  a  young  man  in  college  from  this  place  to 
Dr.  Mussey,  a  leading  professor  in  the  Medical  School, 
for  a  man  suited  to  take  the  place  of  Dr.  Morrison.  Him- 
self a  decidedly  religious  man  and  having  sympathy  with 
the  people  here,  he  at  once  recommended  Dr.  Kimball, 
saying  that  he  was  one  of  the  best  read  men  who  ever 
went  forth  from  that  institution.  Dr.  Kimball  had  a  long 
and  successful  practice  here,  and  will  be  remembered  as 
a  good  physician  and  a  remarkably  conscientious  and 
truly  christian  man.  He  removed  to  Beaver  Dam,  Wis- 
consin. 


38  Cent3nnicU  Celebration. 


RELIGIOUS   HISTORY. 

The  first  settlers  of  the  town  were  generally  young  peo- 
ple, who  had  been  religiously  educated.  The  stern  reali- 
ties of  life  were  before  them  and  an  opportunity  was  to 
be  afforded  for  the  development  of  their  characters.  They 
were  not  generally  professedly  religious.  But  the  wor- 
ship of  God  has  been  maintained  in  this  town  from  the 
beginning.  The  first  preacher  of  the  gospel  here  was 
Rev.  Nathaniel  Emmons,  afterwards  Dr.  Emmons  of 
Franklin,  Massachusetts.  In  1771,  he  received  a  unan- 
imous request  from  the  inhabitants  and  from  the  proprie- 
tors of  the  town  to  become  the  settled  pastor.  That  Mr. 
Emmons  should  have  sought  another  field  of  labor  is  not  a 
matter  of  surprise.  The  time  of  his  being  here  was  not 
more  than  four  years  after  there  were  but  five  families 
in  town,  and  there  were  not  probablj'  more  than  twenty 
at  this  time.  But  in  each  succeeding  yesLV  renewed  efforts 
were  made  to  secure  the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  but  with 
little  success  until  the  spring  of  1774. 

FOKMATIOK  OP  THE  CHURCH  AND  SETTLEMEXT  OF  A  MINISTER. 

At  that  time  Rev.  Selden  Church,  a  graduate  of  Yale 
College  in  1765,  came  to  the  place  and  was  settled  as  pas- 
tor, June  2d,  1774.  A  Congregational  church  was  organ- 
ized the  day  previous  at  the  house  of  Nathaniel  Tupper. 
The  early  records  of  the  church  having  been  lost,  we 
know  little  of  these  important  events.  The  persons  who 
constituted  the  church  we  have  not  the  means  of  knowing. 
But  we  know  that  Nathaniel  Tupper,  David  Perkins  and 
Daniel  Wj^att  were  religious  men,  and  we  may  presume 
that  they  were  among  the  earliest  members.  How  many 
christian  women  of  those  days  were  united  with  them  it 
would  be  pleasant  to  know. 


Ordination.  39 


ORDINATION. 


Some  particulars  in  regard  to  the  ordination  are  of  in- 
terest to  us  as  matters  of  history.  At  10  o'clock  on  Mon- 
dsy,  the  tenth  of  October,  there  was  a  town  meeting  to 
make  the  needful  arrangements.  Chiliab  Brainard  was 
moderator.  It  was  voted  that  the  town  make  a  general 
entertainment  on  the  occasion,  and  that  the  rum  and 
sweetening  be  at  the  "  town's  cost"  ;*  that  Darius  Willey, 
David  Perkins,  Ebenezer  Taylor,  be  a  committee  to  take 
the  oversight  and  see  that  all  things  were  made  ready  at 
the  time  and  place.  Such  an  entertainment  was  deemed 
proper  in  those  times. 

Bum,  the  only  intoxicating  drink  then  used  at  all  by 
the  people,  was  an  expensive  article.  It  was  used  spar- 
ingly, and  only  on  important  occasions.  The  provision 
for  it  on  this  occasion,  shows  the  importance  of  the  occa- 
sion in  their  estimation.  Could  we  know  who  were  on 
this  counsel,  who  preached  the  sermon  and  who  perform- 
ed the  other  parts  of  the  services  it  would  be  a  matter  of 
interest  to  us. 

The  salary  offered  Mr.  Church  was  fifty  pounds  lawful 
money  per  year  for  six  years,  then  to  be  advanced  five 
pounds  per  year  until  it  should  reach  to  seventy  pounds. 
His  settlement  was  one  hundred  and  five  pounds  in  labor 
and  provisions.  He  was  to  have  drawn  thirty  cords  of 
wood,  eight  feet  in  length,  each  year. 

Mr.  Church  commenced  his  ministry  when  there  were 
not  probably  much  bej'ond  thirty  families  in  town.  But 
they  were  united  and  all  attended  meeting,  notwithstand- 
ing the  bad  roads,  and  want  of  carriages.  Their  worship 
was  held  in  a  private  house  ;  first  in  that  of  Col.  Joseph 
Spencer,  and  afterwards  in  that  of  Isaac  Fox. 


40  Centennial  Celebration. 


A   HOUSE  OP  WORSHIP. 


In  1779,  the  town  chose  Moses  Baker,  John  Holmes, 
and  Daniel  Wyatt  a  committee  to  agree  with  Joseph 
Pulsifer  for  his  dwelling  house  for  a  house  of  worship. 
The  purchase  was  made,  and  Samuel  Holmes,  and  Wil- 
liam Baker  were  appointed  a  committee  "  to  plan  the 
pew  ground  "  and  sell  the  same.  The  money  raised  in 
this  way  was  to  be  laid  out  in  the  repairs  of  the  house. 
This  arrangement,  it  will  be  borne  in  mind,  was  made  at 
the  time  when  the  expenses  of  the  revolutionary  war 
bore  heavily  upon  the  people.  This  house  of  worship 
was  used  also  for  a  toAvn  house.  Here  Rev.  Mr.  Church 
preached  some  twelve  or  more  years.  In  1791,  the  town 
voted  that  the  meeting  house  be  removed  to  the  brow  of 
the  hill  near,  and  a  little  south  of  the  place,  where  the 
road  descends  to  cross  the  river.  A  boat  was  also  pre- 
pared to  accommodate  the  people  on  the  west  side  of  the 
river  in  attending  meeting.  In  1796  the  town  voted  to 
build  two  meeting  houses,  one  on  each  side  of  the  River, 
at  such  place  as  shall  be  most  convenient — board  and 
shingle  the  same  and  allow  the  remainder  to  be  done  by 
the  pew  holders.  This  vote  was  reconsidered  and  made 
void  in  a  following  meeting.  For  many  years  meetings 
were  held  on  both  sides  of  the  river.  Every  third  Sab- 
bath on  the  west  side,  for  a  time  at  least,  at  the  house  of 
Mr.  Samuel  Cook.  It  was  under  these  circumstances  that 
a  portion  of  the  people  in  the  west  part  of  the  town  be- 
gan to  attend  worship  at  Plymouth,  where  some  of  our 
most  valuable  citizens  have  ever  since  attended. 

The  dwelling  house  of  Rev.  Mr.  Church  was  a  large 
gambrel  roofed  house  M'here  Dea.  Brown's  house  now 
stands. 


The  Ministry  of  Rev.  Mr.  Church.  41 

THE  MINISTRT  OF  REV.  MR.  CHURCH. 

From  any  view  which  we  can  take  of  his  ministry  it 
will  appear  to  have  been  arduous  and  difficult.  He  came 
here  when  the  town  was  new  and  the  people  poor.  They 
li^'ed  remote  from  each  other  and  the  roads  were  bad  and 
the  stream  often  difficult  to  cross.  The  people  of  the 
town  coming  from  different  regions  of  the  country  did 
not  at  once  harmonize.  Those  from  Connecticut  were 
generally  a  discreet,  industrious  and  reliable  people,  and 
strongly  attached  to  religious  institutions,  but  few  of 
them  were  professedly  pious.  They  had  been  accustomed 
to  the  half  way  covenant  and  partook  to  some  extent  of 
the  characteristics  of  the  churches  in  their  native  State 
at  that  period,  as  we  learn  from  the  complaints  made  in 
regard  to  them,  viz  :  "  a  want  of  a  pungent  application 
of  the  truth  in  preaching,  a  neglect  of  the  proper  qualifi- 
cations in  persons  received  into  the  church,  and  a  want 
of  proper  church  discipline."  They  had  heard  of  the 
extravagances  of  Davenport  and  others  and  had  little 
sympathy  with  the  "  new  lights."  But  the  people  from 
Massachusetts  came  from  under  the  preaching  of  White- 
field,  of  Parsons  and  Spring  of  Newbur;yport,  and  of 
Cleaveland  of  Ipswich.  But  under  the  discreet  ministry 
of  Mr.  Church,  a  good  degree  of  harmony  prevailed  among 
his  people  for  sixteen  or  seventeen  years.  During  the 
latter  part  of  his  ministry  there  was  an  awakened  relig- 
ious interest  and  a  goodly  number  gathered  into  the 
church.  But  having  been  aware  of  a  growing  disafiection 
for  some  years,  Mr.  Church  requested  a  dissolution  of  his 
pastoral  relation  in  1792.  He  remained  in  town  and  con- 
tinued to  preach  and  his  salary  was  paid  for  a  con- 
siderable time,  and  an  effort  was  made  for  his  resettle- 
ment, and  it  was  thought  at  one  time  that  it  would  be 
successful.  But  it  was  judged  in  the  end  to  be  inexpe- 
dient.    The  complaints  of  cavilers  were  that  he  was  slow 


4S  Centennial  Celebration. 

in  his  delivery,  —  long  in  his  sermons  and  that  when  the 
people  with  their  families  went  to  meeting  upon  an  ox- 
sled  they  would  not  get  home  until  after  sunset.  But 
that  ministry  must  have  been  uncoifimonly  pure,  of  which 
we  have  heard  in  after  years  so  little  that  was  derogatory. 
Those  of  us  who  came  forward  in  the  following  genera- 
tion have  been  in  the  habit  of  hearing  no  man  spoken  of 
with  more  respect  than  the  Rev.  Mr.  Church.  "Whatever 
might  have  been  said  of  other  ministers,  we  have  heard 
nothing  evil  of  him.  After  a  time  he  removed  from  the 
town  and  was  settled  in  Northumberland,  in  Coos  county. 
Here  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life,  both  as  a  preacher 
and  a  teacher.  Men  are  found  in  the  higher  walks  of  life 
who  came  forward  under  his  instruction.  It  was  a  loss 
to  lose  from  the  town  such  a  man  at  such  a  time. 

THE    FOLLOWING   PERIOD. 

There  followed  a  dark  period  in  the  religious  history  of 
the  iown.  Without  any  one  to  call  off  the  attention  of  the 
people  from  their  worldly  interests,  every  one  sought  his 
own,  and  the  interests  of  the  Saviour's  kingdom,  and  the 
welfare  of  the  souls  of  men  were  neglected.  It  was  at  this 
time  that  Dea.  Evans  of  Hebron,  an  earnest  christian 
man  of  humble  pretensions  felt  himself  moved  to  come 
and  warn  the  people  of  their  danger,  and  invite  them  to 
Christ.  His  labors  were  blessed  in  arousing  some  of  the 
people  to  a  conviction  of  their  sins  and  a  sense  of  their 
danger,  and  a  number  of  persons  were  hopefully  led  to 
the  Saviour.  Among  them  was  Dea.  John  Wooster, 
Dea.  Jonathan  Burbank,  Mr.  Josiah  Blaisdell  and  a  num- 
ber of  valuable  women. 

NEW    HOUSE    OF    WORSHIP. 

In  1799  preparations  were  made  for  erecting  a  house 
of  worship.    It  was  to  be  done  by  the  people  on  the  east 


Bev.  Mr.  Chopin. — Renewed  of  Covenant.  43 

side  of  the  river,  for  their  own  and  the  use  of  their  fami- 
lies. It  required  a  great  effort  on  the  part  of  individuals. 
The  people  in  the  west  part  of  the  town  generally  at  this 
time  found  their  home  in  the  church  at  Plymouth,  where 
their  aid  was  much  needed  in  sustaining  the  institutions 
of  religion.  The  new  house  of  worship  was  finished  in 
1802.  It  stood  south  of  Mr.  David  Bartlett's  and  in 
front  of  the  old  burying  ground.  It  is  remembered 
b}^  multitudes  as  the  gate  of  heaven.  No  other  place 
on  earth  has  the  same  interest  to  them.  Some  of 
us  now  living,  after  forty  years,  can  recall  the  occupant 
of  every  pew  in  that  house.  It  had  high  galleries,  a  high 
pulpit,  the  sounding  board  above  it,  and  the  deacons  sat 
below  it.     There  we  heard  and  praised  and  prayed. 

KEV.    MR.    CHAPIN. 

The  first  preacher  in  the  new  house  was  Eev.  Peletiah 
Chapin.  He  had  labored  occasionally  in  the  place.  In 
1800  he  proposed  to  the  people  that  he  would  preach  to 
them  for  a  time  on  condition  that  they  would  furnish 
board  for  himself,  wife  and  daughter.  He  was  invited  to 
settle  with  them,  but  he  declined,  saying  that  he  was  like 
his  horse,  sure  to  bi'iftk  away  if  tied.  With  some  abate- 
ment on  the  score  of  eccentricity,  Mr.  Chapin  labored 
here  successfully  for  about  five  years. 

RENEWAL  OF  COVENANT. 

The  third  of  April,  1800,  the  church  renewed  their 
covenant,  Rev.  Noah  Worcester  being  present  and  aiding 
in  the  services.  The  names  of  those  who  signed  it  were 
as  follows :  Nathaniel  Tupper  and  wife ;  Dea.  Daniel 
Wyatt ;  Jonathan  Burbank  and  wife ;  David  Bartlett ; 
Joslah  Blaisdell ;  Deborah  Willey,  the  wife  of  Jesse 
Willey  ;  Dea.  Baker  and  wife.  Afterwards,  Rev.  Peletiah 
Chapin  and  Joshua  Rogers.     Twelve  in  all. 


44  Centennial  Celebration. 

In  1802,  the  following  persons  became  conneeted  with 
the  church :  viz.,  Tristram  Bartlett,  Maxy  Willey,  Moses 
Baker  and  wife,  Sarah  Rogers,  David  Wooster,  Ruth 
Southmayd  and  Olive  Durgin,  making  twenty  members. 
About  three  years  after,  in  1805,  Rev.  Mr.  Chapin  avowed 
his  dissent  from  the  Congregational  church,  and  united 
with  a  Baptist  church  in  a  neighboring  town.  About  one 
third  of  the  church  gradually  came  into  sympathy  with 
him. 

Rev.  Mr.  Chapin  was  invited  still  to  continue  his  minis- 
try in  the  parish.  But  he  replied  that  a  man  would  be  a 
fool  to  attempt  to  lead  others  right  while  he  did  not  do 
right  himself.  He  sat  up  a  separate  meeting  in  town 
which  was  attended  by  those  in  sympathy  with  him. 
Many  of  these  persons  were  owners  in  the  new  meeting 
house,  and  claimed  their  share  of  it.  A  certain  portion 
of  the  time  was  assigned  to  them  and  the  house  was  oc- 
cupied by  th'em,  while  the  Congregational  church  and 
society  worshipped  in  a  school  house.  At  length  the 
portion  of  the  house  owned  by  the  Baptist  people  was 
purchased  by  the  Congregational  society. 

Mr.  Chapin  preached  frequently  in  different  parts  of 
this  town  and  in  other  towns,  but  as  we  are  informed  by 
the  Baptist  people,  was  not  active  in  the  formation  of  the 
Baptist  church  in  the  north  part  of  the  town,  in  1811,  and 
was  never  its  pastor.  At  one  time  he  was  called  upon 
for  a  tax  of  fifty  cents,  and  he  said  it  was  more  money 
than  he  had  received  for  preaching  for  ten  years. 

At  the  election  of  Mr.  Jefferson  as  President  of  the 
United  States  in  1801,  Mr.  Chapin  took  strong  ground 
in  his  favor.  At  one  time  while  he  acted  as  pastor,  Dr. 
John  Rogers  of  Plymouth  delivered  a  political  address 
in  the  meeting  house  on  the  fourth  of  July.  Mr.  Chapin 
was  invited  to  be  present  but  refused.  On  the  following 
Sabbath  he  commenced  his   services  by  reading  the  hymn 


Sev.  Daniel  Stanford: — John   Webber.  45 

commencing  with  the  following  lines,  "  I  lift  my  banner 
saith  the  Lord,  where  anti-Christ  hath  stood."  He  after- 
wards had  a  controversy  with  Dr.  Rogers,  which  was  car- 
ried on  in  poetry.  He  was  a  man  of  kind  and  generous 
feelings.  He  once  met  a  boy  near  his  own  home  in  a 
cold  day  without  a  coat.  He  took  off  his  own  and  placed 
it  upon  him.  Mr.  Chapin  often  preached  impressively. 
He  lived  to  an  advanced  age,  and  expressed  his  thank- 
fulness that  his  different  faculties  failed  alike,  that  he  was 
not  wholly  deprived  of  any  one  of  them. 

BEV.    DANIEL    STANIFORD. 

Rev.  Daniel  Staniford  was  employed  to  preach  for 
one  year  in  1806.  He  was  a  man  of  feeble  health  ;  of  a 
clear  and  cultivated  mind,  and  earnest  in  his  work.  He 
did  much  to  establish  the  minds  of  the  people  in  the  doc- 
trines of  the  gospel  and  in  giving  stability  to  the  church. 

JOHN    WEBBER. 

John  Webber,  a  graduate  of  Dartmouth  College  and 
brother  of  President  Webber  of  Harvard  College,  was 
settled  here  in  the  ministry  in  1812.  He  was  a  man  of 
much  information  and  would  have  done  more  for  the  peo- 
ple if  his  salary  had  met  the  wants  of  his  family.  For 
their  support  he  was  obliged  to  labor  upon  the  land.  His 
ministiy  was  of  only  three  or  four  years  continuance  and 
was  useful  in  enlarging  the  views  of  the  people  on  many 
of  the  principles  of  theology.  He  was  of  an  active  mind 
and  loved  a  joke.  Riding  with  a  young  man  of  easy 
morals,  he  remarked  to  him  that  he  did  not  always  see 
him  at  church.  The  young  man  replied  that  there  were 
other  places  of  worship  of  different  denominations  in  the 
vicinity  and  that  he  usually  attended  somewhere,  and 
added,  "  You  know  a  change  of  pasture  makes  fat  calves." 
Said  Mr.  Webber,  "  I  knew  an  instance  where  a  calf  was 


46  Centennial  Celebration. 

permitted  to  suck  two  cows  through  the  season."  And 
"  what  was  the  result,"  said  the  young  man?  The  an- 
swer was,  "  A  great  calf."  Mr.  "Webber  was  dismissed 
in  the  early  part  of  1815,  and  removed  to  Ohio. 

SPIRITUAL  PROSPECTS. 

To  human  view  the  prospect  for  the  spiritual  interests 
of  the  place  was  never  more  unpromising  than  at  this 
time.  The  active  members  of  the  church  were  reduced 
to  a  handful,  not  more  than  six  in  number.  They  were 
persons  advanced  in  years.  The  pai'ish  was  unable  to 
support  a  minister,  worldliness  prevailed  and  the  young, 
a  large  number  of  whom  were  in  town  at  this  time,  weie 
given  to  their  pleasures.  The  faith  of  the  people  of  God 
had  no  earthly  supports,  but  rented  upon  the  gi'ace  of 
God  and  the  promises  of  his  word.  Such  was  the  time 
which  a  merciful  God  chose  to  work  like  himself.  It  was 
afterwards  remarked  that  the  darkest  time  was  just  before 
day. 

GREAT   REVIVAL. 

He  first  visited  His  people  with  judgments,  one  of  which 
was  as  follows  :  At  the  raising  of  a  house  near  the  pres- 
ent church  and  town  house,  after  the  broad  side  was 
thrown  up,  the  poles  were  unfastened  and  thi'own  down. 
One  of  them  struck  upon  the  head  of  a  young  man  and 
caused  his  death.  It  was  a  terrible  event  and  shocked  the 
whole  community.  The  young  man  was  one  of  the 
sprightliest  and  most  attractive  in  the  town.  They  car- 
ried him  to  his  grave.  But  the  event  was  not  forgotten. 
The  building  remained  unfinished  for  some  years,  a  re- 
membrancer to  all  passers  by.  At  length  an  attempt  was 
made  to  gather  the  materials  for  finishing  it.  The  father 
of  the  young  man  being  skilled  in  the  business,  went  into 


Great  Revival.  47 

the  woods  with  others  to  prepare  the  shingles.  After 
felling  a  suitable  tree,  while  setting  upon  it  between  two 
other  men,  a  limb  which  had  been  broken,  and  was  held 
in  the  top  of  other  trees,  fell  and  instantly  killed  this 
man  while  the  other  men  remained  uninjured.  The 
death  of  this  young  man,  as  it  afterwards  ap- 
peared, was  the  means  of  the  awakening  of  many  of  the 
young  people  to  their  inunortal  interests  ;  and  the  afflict- 
ed mother,  a  lovely  member  of  the  Baptist  church,  re- 
marked that  this  circumstance  aided  greatly  in  reconciling 
her  to  the  loss  of  her  son. 

Rev.  Mr.  Hardy  preached  to  the  people  for  a  time  in 
the  early  part  of  this  season,  —  a  man  wanting  in  elo- 
quence, but  an  able  and  godly  man.  The  providence  of 
God  also  preached, — the  Spirit  of  God  was  present  in 
an  unusual  degree  to  convince  us  of  sin.  The  people 
generally  were  aroused  from  their  stupidity  and  many 
made  the  inquiry  what  they  should  do  to  be  saved.  A 
young  man  who  had  been  attending  school  at  Haverhill, 
where  there  had  been  an  extensive  revival,  returned  and 
commenced  holding  meetings  for  the  young  in  the  school 
house,  in  the  intermission  of  public  worship.  These 
meetings  were  soon  largely  attended.  The  aged  and  ex- 
perienced members  of  the  church  were  now  in  requisition 
to  guide  the  young  to  the  Saviour.  In  the  fall  of  this 
year.  Rev.  Mr.  McKeen  preached  for  a  time.  Not  a  few 
owe  the  life  of  their  souls  to  his  faithfulness.  About  the 
beginning  of  the  following  year,  Mr.  Warren  Day  came 
to  the  place.  He  had  studied  theology  with  Rev.  Dr. 
Shurtlief,  was  a  young  man  of  humble  pretensions,  not 
distinguished  for  eloquence,  but  was  evidently  one  whom 
God  had  raised  up  in  his  Providence  to  labor  in  his  vine- 
yard. He  preached  the  truth  of  God  from  his  heart  and 
God  spoke  through  him  to  the  people.  They  had  also  a 
hearing  ear  and  an  understanding  heart  given  to  them 


48  Centennial  Celebration. 

and  received  the  truth  in  the  love  of  it.  Some  of  the 
texts  from  which  he  preached  that  winter  will  be  remem- 
bered by  many  while  they  live.  One  young  man  in  after 
years  was  able  to  recall  every  text  which  was  preached 
upon  that  winter  and  in  the  order  in  which  they  were 
brought  forward.  Many  families  were  largely  blessed. 
Parents  and  children  were  made  the  subjects  of  renewing 
grace.  There  were  a  number  who  united  with  the  church 
on  the  first  Sabbath  in  January,  1816.  A  larger  number 
on  the  first  Sabbath  in  March.  The  whole  number  added 
in  the  course  of  the  year,  as  fruits  of  that  revival,  was 
about  seventy ;  and  others  were  added  afterwards  to  the 
number,  in  the  whole  of  about  one  hundred. 

REMARKS    OF    MR.    MARSH. 

The  following  are  the  remarks  of  Rev.  Christopher 
Marsh,  at  the  ordination  of  Rev.  Worcester  Willey,  a 
missionary  of  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for 
Foreign  Missions,  in  1844  : 

"  Twenty-nine  years  ago  at  this  time,  I  was  inquiring 
what  I  must  do  to  be  saved.  The  second  Sabbath  in  Jan- 
uary, following,  I  was  one  of  thirteen,  who  in  this  house 
publicly  professed  Christ  before  the  world.  An  interest- 
ing revival  of  religion  was  then  in  progress,  which 
brought  a  large  number  into  the  church.  From  all  my 
knowledge  of  that  revival,  its  origin,  its  progress  and  re- 
sults, and  from  all  the  experience  I  have  h^id  in  re\aval3 
in  other  places  from  that  time  to  this,  I  am  in  the  habit 
of  thinking  of  the  revival  in  this  town  in  1815-16,  as 
the  most  precious  and  the  freest  from  anything  spurious 
or  exceptionable,  of  any  re\ival  whi(»,h  has  fallen  under 
my  observation.  I  ascribe  this  to  the  ever  to  be  remem- 
bered fact,  that  the  families  connected  with  this  church 
and  congregation  so  habitually  observed  the  Sabbath  and 
attended  public  w^orship,  and  so  generally  read  Baxter's, 


Bev.  Mr.  Brown. — Parsonage.  49 

Davies,  and  Emmons'  sermons,  Edwards'  works  and  other 
kindred  books  from  the  library  of  the  town. 

From  this  revival,  six  young  men  entered  the  ministry, 
and  another  with  the  ministry  in  view,  died  while  a  mem- 
ber of  College.  Since  that  revival  this  church  has  ex- 
perienced other  seasons  of  refreshing,  and  converts  have 
been  multiplied.  We  can  now  say  that  not  less  than 
eight,  among  the  rocks  and  hills  and  everlasting  moun- 
tains of  this  obscure  town,  have  been  counted  worthy  to 
be  put  into  the  ministry.  Other  towns  may  be  more  beau- 
tiful for  situation,  may  have  more  sons  at  the  bar,  on  the 
bench  and  in  the  councils  of  the  nation.  But  this  town 
will  not  be  wanting  in  beauty  so  long  as  she  raises  up 
from  her  sons,  pastors  and  churches  and  missionaries  to 
the  heathen.  This  town  will  not  be  wanting  in  fame  so 
long  as  she  sends  forth  heralds  to  proclaim  liberty  to 
the  captives,  and  the  opening  of  the  prison  to  them  that 
are  bound,  and  furnished  men  to  lead  onward  and  upward 
the  sacramental  host  of  God's  elect." 

Rev.  Mr.  Hovey,  a  man  advanced  in  life,  preached  for 
a  time  after  Rev.  Mr.  Day  left,  and  faithfully  instructed 
those  who  had  entered  upon  the  christian's  life.  Rev.  Mr. 
Fairbank  of  PljTnouth,  aided  much  in  this  work. 

KEV.    MB.    BROWN. 

In  the  fall  of  the  year,  Mr.  Amos  P.  Brown,  who  had 
studied  Theology  with  Rev.  Dr.  Wood  of  Boscawen,  was 
invited  to  labor  here,  and  in  January  1,  1817,  was  settled 
as  pastor  of  the  church.  A  general  prosperity  attended 
his  ministry  of  five  years. 

PARSONAGE. 

During  this  time  the  land  for  the  present  parsonage 
was  given  to  the  society  by  Col.  Samuel  Holmes.    It  con- 


60  Centennial  Celebration. 

sisted  of  twelve  or  sixteen  acres  in  an  uncultivated  state. 
He  gave  also  fifteen  dollars  towards  the  erection  of  a 
dwelling  house  and  also  boarded  the  workmen  while  at 
work  upon  it.  The  old  men  of  the  parish  undertook  to 
build  the  house  and  the  young  men  the  barn.  When  the 
whole  was  completed,  it  was  found  that  there  was  a  debt 
of  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars.  Colonel  Holmes  said 
to  the  leading  men  of  the  parish,  "  You  become  obligated 
for  one-half  of  it,  and  you  may  put  the  other  half  to  my 
account."  It  was  done  in  a  few  minutes.  Rev.  Mr. 
Brown  was  dismissed  at  his  own  request  in  June,  1822. 
He  removed  into  the  western  country  and  there  spent  a 
useful  ministry,  mainly  in  the  State  of  Illinois.  There 
succeeded  a  period  of  two  years  in  which  the  church  had 
no  settled  pastor.  But  there  was  such  ability  in  the 
church,  that  when  they  had  no  preaching  upon  the  Sab- 
bath, the  worship  of  God  was  sustained  with  interest,  and 
also  the  meetings  of  the  week. 

KEV.    MR.    RANKIN. 

During  this  time,  Rev,  Mr.  Rankin  for  a  season,  preach- 
ed on  alternate  Sabbaths  in  this  to-mi  and  in  Thornton. 
Both  parishes  made  advances  towards  securing  him  as 
their  minister.  But  the  people  of  Thornton  moved  first, 
and  he  became  a  useful  minister  there  for  a  time. 

NEW   CHURCH    ON   THE   WEST   SIDE    OF   THE   RIVER. 

In  1824,  the  people  on  the  west  side  of  the  river,  who 
had  been  accustomed  to  attend  worship  at  Plymouth, 
united  in  forming  a  second  Congregational  Society  in  this 
town.  They  built  a  house  of  worship  not  far  from  where 
the  road  now  crossing  the  river  meets  the  road  upon  the 
west  side.  Christian  people  there  united  with  the  church 
.on  the  east  side  and  worship  was  maintained  on  both  sides 
of  the  river  on  alternate  Sabbaths. 


Mev.  Mr.  Hale. — A  New  Bridge.  51 

KEV.    MR.    HALE. 

In  the  Spring  of  1824,  Rev.  Jonathan  L.  Hale  from 
Connecticut,  who  had  been  laboring  with  much  success  in 
Colebrook  in  Coos  county,  was  invited  to  this  place.  His 
services  were  highly  acceptable  to  the  people  and  he  was 
installed  here  June  23,  1824.  The  presence  of  God  was 
specially  present  with  his  people  as  they  entered  the  new 
house  of  worship.  The  men  who  had  built  it,  the  larger 
portion  of  whom  were  young,  had  made  great  efforts  for 
the  purpose,  and  a  large  number  of  them  and  their  fami- 
lies embraced  the  offers  of  the  gospel  and  yielded  them- 
selves to  the  services  of  their  Lord.  Others  on  the  east 
side  of  the  river  were  interested,  and  some  thirty  were 
added  to  the  church.  There  were  still,  as  there  always 
had  been,  many  difficulties  experienced  in  crossing  the 
river  to  attend  meeting.  They  could  ford  the  river  in 
Summer,  and  pass  over  it  in  Winter  upon  the  ice.  But 
there  were  seasons  when  to  do  this  was  dangerous. 

A    MAN    IN   THE    KIVER. 

On  one  occasion,  as  the  people  had  begun  their  worship 
in  the  new  house,  a  man  who  was  a  little  late,  saw  a  man 
break  through  the  ice  and  sink  in  the  water.  He  rushed 
into  the  church  and  exclaimed  that  a  man  was  drowning 
n  the  river !  The  house  was  soon  emptied  and  the  man 
was  found  clinging  to  the  breaking  ice,  as  one  piece  after 
another  gave  away.  He  was  at  length  rescued  in  an  ex- 
hausted state.  He  proved  to  be  the  beloved  physician, 
Dr.  Kimball.  He  had  attended  meeting  in  the  forenoon, 
and  was  called  away  in  the  afternoon. 

A    NEW    BRIDGE. 

This  and  other  like  perils,  led  the  people  to  feel  the 
importance  of  a  bridge  across  the  river.     A  subscription 


52  CerUennicU  Celebration. 

of  one  thousand  dollars  was  raised  for  this  purpose,  of 
which  Rev.  Mr.  Hale  gave  one  hundred  dollars.  The 
bridge  was  built  in  1829.  Now  the  people  wonder  how 
their  fathers  could  ever  have  done  without  a  bridge  in 
that  place. 

PROSPERITY   OP  THE   SOCIETY. 

The  Church  and  Society  were  now  able  to  sustain  their 
own  institutions  and  to  aid  the  benevolent  enterprises 
abroad.  Rev.  Mr.  Hale  stated  that  his  parish  made  up 
of  about  forty  families,  promptly  furnished  him  his  salary 
and  contributed  annually  about  four  hundred  dollars  for 
the  various  benevolent  objects  of  the  day. 

CHURCH   DIFFICULTIES. 

After  some  six  or  seven  years,  from  the  settlement  of 
Rev.  Mr.  Hale,  difficulties  grew  up  in  the  church.  Breth- 
ren became  alienated  from  each  other,  and  we  fear  were 
not  in  a  condition  to  receive  a  blessing ;  and  that  in  con- 
sequence that  favored  year  of  1831,  which  brought  such 
large  blessings  to  the  churches  of  our  land,  failed  to  se- 
cure to  this  church  the  good  which  it  might  otherwise 
have  received.  A  protracted  meeting  of*three  daj's  was 
blessed  to  the  awakening  of  the  people,  and  twelve  be- 
came hopefully  christians  and  united  with  the  church. 

MR.    bale's    removal. 

In  1832  Rev.  Mr.  Hale  buried  his  wife,  and  afterwards 
sought  a  release  from  his  pastoral  charge.  He  had  three 
children  who  lived  to  years  of  maturity,  two  sons  and 
one  daughter.  The  two  sons  went  down  to  the  grave 
in  early  manhood,  leaving  cheering  evidence  of  their  pre- 
paredness for  the  kingdom  of  God  above.  The  daughter 
survives,  —  the  wife  of  Rev.  Lauren  Armsby  of  Can- 
dia,  —  from  whom  we  have  the  following  facts  : 


Dr.  Stone's  Ministry. — Deacons'  Meetings.         68 


MRS.   ARMSBT  S   LETTER. 

"  My  father.  Rev.  Jonathan  Lee  Hale,  was  the  son  of 
Judge  Nathan  Hale  of  Goshen,  Connecticut,  and  was 
bom  May  31,  1790.  He  graduated  at  Middlebury  Col- 
lege, in  the  year  1819.  After  completing  the  theological 
course  at  Andover  Seminary  in  1822,  he  labored  one 
year  in  Colebrook,  Ne^J  Hampshire,  under  the  auspices 
of  the  Home  Missionary  Society.  He  was  ordained  in 
Campton,  June  23d,  1824;  dismissed  April  18th,  1832. 
His  second  settlement  was  in  Windham,  Maine,  in  1832. 

In  the  summer  of  1834  he  took  a  violent  cold,  while 
returning  from  an  exchange  with  a  brother  minister.  His 
lungs  became  seriously  affected  and  he  was  advised  by 
physicians  to  spend  the  ensuing  winter  at  the  South.  In 
October,  1834,  he  sailed  for  Savannah,  Georgia,  in  com- 
pany with  Rev.  Mr.  Pomeroy  of  Gorham,  Maine. 

The  following  notice  of  his  death,  I  copy  from  a  paper 
published  in  Savannah,  Georgia : 

DEATH    OF   REV.    MR.    HALE. 

"  Died  January  15th,  1835,  on  the  Island  of  Skidaway, 
near  Savannah,  at  the  house  of  David  E.  Adams,  Esq., 
Rev.  Jonathan  Lee  Hale,  aged  44.  He  had  repaired,  at  too 
late  a  period  of  a  pulmonary  complaint,  to  this  salutary 
climate  for  the  benefit  of  his  health,  and  died  in  the  bosom 
of  christian  sympathy  and  kindness.  His  body  was 
brought  to  the  church  at  White  Bluff,  and  after  an  appro- 
priate sermon  by  the  Rev.  Willierd  Preston  of  Savannah, 
and  fervent  prayers  for  the  far  distant  widow  and  three 
orphan  children,  it  was  committed  to  the  grave  in  the 
church  burial  gi-ound  of  White  Bluff,  seven  miles  south 
of  the  city  of  Savannah." 

Thus  passed  away  from-    earth    this  beloved  father 


54  Centennial  Celebration. 

whose  memory  is  still  fresh,  though  I  was  but   a  child  of 
eight  years  at  his  death. 

Eliza  Lee  Armsby," 

DR.    STOKE's   ministry. 

The  following  j^ear  Rev.  Benjamin  P.  Stone,  D.  D., 
was  installed  pastor  of  this  church.  He  was  settled  for 
the  limited  time  of  five  years.  JDuring  this  time  the  diffi- 
culties were  removed,  and  the  church  enjoyed  again  har- 
mony and  spiritual  prosperity.  About  thirty  were  added 
to  the  church.  Had  it  not  been  for  this  unfortunate  limi- 
tation, this  order  of  things,  so  far  as  we  can  see,  might 
have  continued,  and  a  long  pastorate  been  enjoyed  ; — a 
blessing  of  which  this  church  has  never  known,  the  long- 
est being  that  of  Rev.  Mr.  Church,  the  first  minister. 

OTHER  MINISTERS. 

The  other  ministers  of  this  church  who  have  served 
them  for  a  time,  have  been  Rev.  Thomas  P.  Beach,  who 
removed  to  Ohio  and  died  there ;  Rev.  Chaiies  Shedd, 
now  in  active  service  in  Minnesota. 

deacons'   MEETINGS. 

There  have  been  times  when  this  church  has  been  with- 
out a  minister  for  months,  and  for  years  together.  Re- 
ligious services  were  conducted  by  the  Deacons  and  other 
leading  members  of  the  church.  Deacons  Baker,  Wyatt, 
Bartlett  and  Burbank  have  been  long  held  in  esteem  for 
the  part  they  took  in  these  services.  It  required  much 
care  and  labor  to  procure  and  select  suitable  discourses, 
to  read  them  and  to  perform  the  other  services  in  the  ap- 
propriate manner  in  which  they  were  performed.  This, 
from  his  situation  in  the  parish,  and  from  his  qualifica- 
tions, devolved  much  upon   Dea.  David  Bartlett.     To  no 


Without  a  Church.  55 

other  man  has  this  church  been  so  much  indebted  in  all 
its  interests  as  to  him,  for  more  than  forty  years.  Anoth- 
er fact  of  interest  is  that  these  services,  upon  the  Sab- 
bath, were  encouraged  and  attended  habitually  by  the 
principal  families  of  the  town,  and  their  importance  in  its 
past  history  can  hardly  be  over-estimated. 

THE    PRIVILEGE    OF    CHURCH    MEMBERSHIP. 

At  the  altar  of  this  church  have  been  made  vows  which 
have  been  recorded  in  heaven,  covenant  engagements 
which  have  not  been  violated,  and  by  its  mutual  aids  and 
sympathies  a  goodly  number  in  their  pilgrimage  of  trials, 
have  been  comforted,  supported  and  nourished  up  to  eter- 
nal life,  and 

When  God  mafees  up  his  last  account 
Of  natives  in  his  holy  mount, 
'Twill  be  an  honor  to  appear 
As  one  new  bom  and  nourished  there. 

THE   CHURCH   A   BLESSING. 

The  history  of  this  church  for  a  period  of  a  little  more 
than  sixty  years,  which  has  now  been  under  review,  shows 
abundantly  its  earthly  connections,  its  human  infirmities 
and  also  its  heavenly  origin  and  its  spiritual  life.  No 
impartial  observer  can  fail  to  see  that  it  has  been  connect- 
ed with  all  that  has  been  good  and  valuable  in  this  com- 
munity,— the  intelligence,  the  enterprise  and  the  civility 
which  has  characterized  the  people  of  the  place  from  the 
beginning,  as  well  as  with  the  religious  and  eternal  inter- 
ests of  men. 

WITHOUT   A    CHURCH. 

"Without  the  church  there  would  have  been  no  general 
and  proper  observance  of  the  christian  Sabbath, — no  re- 
ligious worship  maintained  either  in  the  church  or  in 


56  Centennial  Celebration. 

families, — there  would  have  been  no  such  successions  of 
pious  men  and  women  as  there  have  been,  and  no  such 
peaceful  and  triumphant  deaths  as  have  been  known  here. 
Without  a  church  the  christian  ministry  could  not  have 
been  sustained  and  there  would  have  been  no  one  to  have 
attended  funerals.  The  whole  town  is,  therefore,  indebt- 
ed to  the  church  for  much  more  than  we  have  ever  sup- 
posed. Without  a  church,  a  Sabbath  and  a  christian  peo- 
ple, God  the  Saviour  would  not  have  dwelt  with  this  com- 
munity as  he  has  for  the  two  generations  under  review. 

DIFFICULTY   OF   SUSTAINING    IT. 

It  has  required  effort  and  sacrifices  from  the  beginning 
to  sustain  the  interest  of  this  church.  Families  in  moder- 
ate circumstances  have  not  known  how  to  meet  the  expenses 
which,  from  this  cause,  have  come  upon  them.  But  in  view 
of  the  past  we  ask  what  money  has  been  better  appropriat- 
ed, what  expenditure  has  turned  to  better  account  ?  Who 
have  been  the  prosperous  and  happy  families  for  a  course 
of  years  ?  They  who  have  neglected  the  house  of  God  or 
they  who  have  come  up  fully  to  their  proportion  in  sup- 
porting the  institutions  of  religion  ?  We  court  examina- 
tion on  this  subject.  May  the  present  generation  learn 
wisdom  from  the  past  and  as  they  would  secure  the  good 
order  and  prosperity  of  the  community,  the  virtue  and 
intelligence  of  families,  and  the  eternal  welfare  of  all, 
let  them  cherish  their  pious  people.  Let  them  seek  the 
welfare  of  the  churches  ;  let  them  sustain  and  attend  up- 
on the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  and  bring  their  children 
to  the  Sabbath  School. 

THE   EXPERIENCE  OF  THE   PAST. 

The  experience  of  the  past  dictate  this  as  the  course 
of  wisdom.    Let  the  following  be  the  sentiment  of  each 


Other  Churches. — Baptist  Church  57 

family  in  town,  in  reference  to  its  own  church :  "  If  I  for- 
get thee  O  Jerusalem,  let  my  right  hand  forget  her  cun- 
ning. If  I  do  not  remember  thee,  let  my  tongue  cleave 
to  the  roof  of  my  mouth,  if  I  prefer  not  Jerusalem  above 
my  chief  joy."  Then  may  we  expect  that  God  will  have 
a  people  here,  that  he  will  be  with  them  and  bless  them 
in  generations  to  come.  "  Happy  is  that  people  that  is  in 
such  a  case,  yea,  happy  is  that  people  whose  God  is  the 
Lord." 

NOTICE    OF   OTHER   CnURCHES. 

The  early  history  of  this  ancient  church  has  been  some- 
what minutely  given,  because  of  its  intimate  connec- 
tion with  the  history  of  the  town,  and  because  the  mate- 
rials were  at  hand,  as  they  might  not  be  again.  Other 
churches  of  importance  have  since  arisen,  but  their  his- 
tory comes  mainly  within  the  modern  history  of  the  town 
which  it  is  not  the  present  purpose  to  give. 

BAPTIST   CHURCH. 

Of  the  Baptist  church  in  the  village  in  the  north  part  of 
the  town,  it  should  be  said  that  it  was  formed  in  1811  and 
that  worship  has  ever  since  been  maintained  there.  Rev. 
Mr.  Tripp  was  the  first  pastor  and  continued  nine  years. 
He  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  Mr.  Barron,  Rev.  Mr.  Lovejoy, 
Rev.  Mr,  Chamberlain,  Rev.  Mr.  Huntley  and  others. 
This  church  has  embraced  many  valuable  christian  people, 
whose  influence  has  been  felt  for  the  benefit  of  the  town. 
Her  ministers  have  done  important  services  in  town. 
Several  interesting  revivals  have  been  enjoyed  there  and 
the  church  has  been  a  blessing  to  the  region  around.  It 
has  now  a  good  house  of  worship  and  must  be  held  re- 
sponsible for  furnishing  religious  instruction  to  the  peo- 
ple in  that  vicinity.  May  the  presence  of  a  common 
Saviour  be  with  them. 


fi8  Cent&nmcd  Celebration. 

FREEWILL   BAPTIST  CHURCH. 

A  Freewill  Baptist  church  was  formed  in  the  west  part 
of  the  town  in  1835,  with  seven  members.  Rev.  Horace 
"Webber  was  the  first  pastor.  Several  seasons  of  revival 
have  been  enjoyed  in  this  chui'ch  and  additions  made  to 
its  numbers  at  different  times.  The  house  of  worship 
was  built  in  1853,  and  the  church  now  consists  of  eighty- 
eight  members.  These  three  churches,  now  named,  are 
well  situated  to  meet  the  religious  wants  of  the  town. 
Though  of  different  denominations,  may  they  in  their 
several  fields  seek  the  honor  of  their  common  Lord,  and 
the  salvation  of  their  fellow  men,  and  have  a  part  in  the 
coming  of  the  kingdom  of  our  Lord. 

FUTURE   PROSPERITY. 

Our  thoughts  are  drawn  to  the  fiiture  of  the  town.  The 
territory  is  to  be  occupied  by  generation  after  generation 
in  all  time  to  come.  These  fields,  hills  and  plains  are  to 
be  theirs  after  we  sleep  in  our  graves.  We  welcome  them 
to  this  occupancy  and  would  have  them  know  that  all  this 
land  has  been  worked  over  by  busy  hands.  Some  portion 
of  the  land,  which  was  valuable  and  productive  when  new, 
has  become  barren  and  many  barren  places,  nnder  cultiva- 
tion, have  become  fertile. 

ANCIENT   APPEARANCE   OF   THE   HILLS. 

Fifty  years  ago  these  hills,  now  covered  with  so  luxur- 
iant a  foliage,  were  covered  with  the  dark  spruce  and 
pine,  with  their  sharp  tops  pointing  to  the  skies,  and  af- 
ter a  time  they  were  one  after  another  burned  over,  the 
green  growth  killed  to  dry  in  the  sun  and  decay.  Another 
fire  would  then  occur  at  the  dry  season  and  the  people 
were  in  this  way  often  reminded  of  Mount  Sinai,  when 


Campion  Hills.  59 

the  glory  of  the  Lord  was  like  devouring  fire  on  the  top 
of  the  mountains.  In  this  way,  in  successive  years,  every 
vegetable  substance  upon  these  hills  decayed  and  was 
burned  up  and  nothing  but  the  bald  and  rugged  rocks  of 
different  colors  appeared.  The  whole  scenery  of  the 
place  was  rough  and  unsightly.  Had  this  general  aspect 
remained,  your  town  would  hardly  have  been  sought  as 
it  now  is  for  the  beanty  of  its  scenery.  The  grandeur 
was  here,  but  not  the  beauty. 

THEIK   PRESENT   BEAUTY. 

The  vast  piles  of  rocks  are  now  covered  with  a  foliage 
which  surpasses  in  luxuriance  and  beauty  almost  any 
part  of  the  land.  An  article  in  a  newspaper  of  the  day 
has  the  following : 

"  Campton  has  often  been  termed  the  rival  of  Conway. 
The  two  have  been  compared  to  a  pair  of  scales,  of  which 
the  intervening  mountains  form  the  beam.  The  beautiful 
intervales,  broad  meadows  waving  with  grain,  the  grace- 
ful grouping  of  the  elms  and  maples,  all  seem  as  if  fitted 
and  placed  in  the  most  desirable  position  that  nature  may 
exhibit  her  treasures  in  the  loveliest  forms.  No  wonder 
that  artists  linger  here  and  attempt  to  transmit  the  beau- 
ties of  these  scenes  to  canvass.  There  are  views  from 
different  places  in  this  town,  which  are  hardly  equalled 
any  where  else. 

WELCOME   TO   COMING   GENERATIONS. 

The  coming  generations  are  welcomed  to  all  that  is 
grand  and  beautiful  among  our  hills,  and  also  to  the  in- 
stitutions established  by  the  fathers  of  the  town,  —  to  the 
schools,  to  the-  churches  and  to  our  puritan  Sabbaths. 
But  we  admonish  you  that  if  you  would  live  and  prosper 
here,  habits  of  stern  industry  and  of  the  closest  economy 


60  Centennial  Celebration. 

must  be  adopted.  If  your  object  be  ease,  and  wealth  for 
your  children,  you  will  turn  to  our  cities  or  to  the  west. 
But  if  3'ou  would  bring  forward  a  family  to  be  respected 
and  honored  and  who  can  live  anywhere,  let  them  come 
forward  with  the  virtues  and  habits  of  industry  and 
economy  practised  among  this  people.  Such  are  the  men 
who  are  making  their  mark  abroad,  and  who  are  first  and 
foremost  in  the  enterprises  of  our  times,  and  New  Hamp- 
shire has  sent  forth  more  of  them  than  any  other  State 
in  the  Union. 

CARE  OF  THE  GRAVE  TAKDS. 

To  the  care  of  coming  generations  in  all  time,  we  com- 
mit the  graves  of  our  fathers  and  mothers  and  dear  ones. 
To  each  generation  we  commit  this  sacred  trust.  The 
burying  ground  upon  the  hill  near  the  place  of  the  old 
church  was  procured  and  established  by  vote  of  the  town 
in  1776,  and  at  the  same  time  the  bui-ying  ground  upon 
the  west  side  of  the  river.  These  and  other  places  of 
sepulture  within  the  town,  are  God's  acre,  and  we  trust 
will  be  properly  cared  for.  From  these  graves  are  to 
come  forth  glorious  forms  at  the  final  consummation  of 
all  things.    Let  no  sacrilegious  hand  be  laid  upon  them. 


SONG  COMPOSED  BY  E.  PRONK, 

SEPTEMBER  12<A,  1867. 

This  town  was  all  a  forest  deep, 

One  hundred  years  ago. 
The  vales  were  low,  the  hills  were  steep, 

And  rivers  wandered  through. 


Song.  61 

A  few  brave  men,  a  pilgrim  band, 

Sought  this  far-off  location, — 
They  saw  it  was  a  goodly  land, 

And  here  they  fixed  their  station. 

From  time  to  time  more  settlers  came, 

And  many  a  spot  was  camped  on ; 
At  length  the  town  must  have  a  name, 

And  so  they  called  it  Campton. 
Now  wake  the  harp,  and  tune  the  lyre, 

To  sing  of  ancient  days, 
This  rural  theme  the  song  inspire, 

To  sound  old  Campton's  praise. 

In  homespun  were  the  people  dressed, 

Of  woolen,  tow  or  linen, 
Their  Sunday  suits,  which  were  the  best. 

Were  neatly  made  by  women. 
And  women  then  could  wash  and  bake, 

And  also  were  good  spinners, 
The  maids  could  ply  the  hoe  and  rake, 

While  matrons  cooked  the  dinners. 

Our  fathers'  raised  a  house  of  prayer, 

When  few  there  were  to  build  it, 
And  every  Sabbath,  foul  or  fair. 

The  people  nobly  filled  it. 
To  meeting  went,  both  young  and  old, 

'Twas  then  but  little  trouble, 
For  none  would  keep  a  horse  we're  told, 

That  would  not  carry  double. 

So  all  on  horse-back  then  did  ride, 

Unless  they  went  by  sledding. 
And  e'en  the  bridegroom  and  the  bride, 

Bode  double  to  the  wedding. 


62  Centennial  Celebration, 

And  though  the  girls,  we're  told  'tis  true, 
Could  not  then  dance  cotillions, 

We  know  that  all  the  country  through 
They  used  to  ride  on  pillions. 

And  now  the  times,  we  say,  improve. 

And  learning  is  more  plenty, 
At  railroad  pace  the  people  move, 

And  when  they're  five  and  twenty. 
They've  gone  the  rounds  of  learned  lore, 

Are  fit  for  any  station. 
Then  quickly  pass,  are  seen  no  more, 

And  thus  goes  on  the  nation. 

This  season  be  a  land-mark  strong, 

To  guide  us  on  our  way, 
And  as  we  pass  through  life  along, 

Let  us  not  go  astray. 
To  good  old  days  we'll  bid  adieu, 

And  so  we'll  travel  on, 
We'll  wish  for  all,  good  hearts  and  true, 

And  now  wind  up  our  song. 


CLERGYMEN  OF  CAMPTON. 


BY   REV.    DANIEL   PULSIFEK. 


Mk.  President — Ladies  and  Gentlemen : 

Gladly  would  I  speak  of  those,  who,  from  the  early 
settlement  of  the  town,  have  preached  the  gospel  in 
Campton,  and  to  the  credit  of  the  early  settlers,  for  in- 
telligence and  piety,  mention  7dm,  who  was  subsequently 


Clergymen  of  Campton.  63 

known  as  Dr.  Emmons,  as  the  person  who  was  called  to 
be  the  first  minister  of  the  town.  I  would  also  speak  of 
him  who  actually  was  the  first  settled  minister  of  the 
town,  and  whose  benevolent  regard  for  the  good  of  the 
people,  after  he  was  dismissed  from  a  pastorate  of  near 
twenty  years,  prompted  him  to  get  up  a  social  library 
consisting  of  the  most  valuable  books  then  extant,  and 
which  had  great  influence  in  forming  the  minds  and 
moulding  the  character  of  the  community.  I  should  be 
pleased  to  speak  of  Rev.  Daniel  Staniford,  an  excellent 
minister,  and  of  Rev.  "Warren  Day  and  Rev.  Jonathan 
L.  Hale,  men  of  much  prayer,  and  who  could  not  rest 
without  success  in  their  ministry,  and  of  others  also  to 
whom  the  words  of  the  poet  were  applicable : 

Whose  hearts  are  warm, 
Whose  hands  are  pure,— whose  doctrine  and  whose  life, 
Coincident,  exhibit  lucid  proof, 
That  they  are  honest  in  the  sacred  cause. 

But  these  have  been  mentioned  already,  and  I  must 
confine  my  remarks  to  natives  of  Campton  who  have  en- 
tered the  ministry.  But,  Mr.  President,  is  the  juror  al- 
lowed to  sit  upon  a  matter  in  which  he  is  interested  ?  Or 
is  the  jurist's  argument  relied  upon  when  his  interest  is 
identified  with  that  of  his  client?  But  with  one  excep- 
tion, perhaps  I  may  be  allowed  to  speak  of  these  men. 

I  am  not  aware  that  any  native  of  Campton  entered 
the  ministry  till  after  the  Revival  of  religion  in  1815. 
Not  very  far  from  this  time,  events  occurred  in  this  town 
worthy  of  particular  note.  As  far  back  as  that  when  the 
laws  of  New  Hampshire  required  males  from  sixteen  to 
forty  years  of  age  to  be  enrolled  in  the  militia,  and  all 
military  companies  to  meet  in  the  month  of  June,  annual- 
ly, for  inspection  and  drill.  And  custom,  almost  as  bind- 
ing as  law,  required  soldiers  to  visit  their  officers  on 
these  occasions,  bum  powder  and  drink  rum  in  honor  of 


64  Centennial  Celebration. 

their  superiors.  Two  or  three  years  previous  to  1815,  a 
young  man  of  this  town  had  the  thumb  of  his  left  hand 
torn  away  by  his  gun's  splitting  which  was  probably  one 
cause  of  his  afterward  going  to  Haverhill  to  attend  the 
Academy.  Another  young  man  not  far  from  this  time, 
was  killed  at  the  raising  of  a  house  frame.  This  last 
event  led  some  young  minds  in  this  town  to  more  serious 
thought  than  they  had  been  in  the  habit  of  entertaining. 
In  the  Autumn  of  1815,  the  Haverhill  student  was  hope- 
fully born  again  in  a  revival  of  religion  in  the  Academy 
where  he  was  studying.  On  the  first  Sabbath  after  his 
return  from  Haverhill,  this  young  man,  with  affections 
warmed  into  life  by  the  love  of  God  shed  abroad  in  his 
heart,  invited  his  young  associates  to  go  with  him  during 
the  interim  of  public  worship,  to  a  school  house  near  the 
meeting  house,  where  he  read  to  them  an  address  on  the 
subject  of  religion  which  had  then  been  recently  delivered 
to  the  students  of  Nassau  Hall.  This  proved  a  good  be- 
ginning. The  next  Sabbath  the  house  was  filled,  the 
windows  raised  and  many  stood  at  them  listening,  while 
prayers  were  offered  and  addresses  delivered.  After  this 
these  meetings  were  held  at  the  house  of  Dea.  David 
Bartlett. 

But  from  this  time  the  work  of  revival  went  on,  till  the 
hopeful  converts  numbered  nearly  one  hundred.  Of  these, 
nine  subsequently  entered  the  ministry,  if  we  include 
Christopher  Marsh,  who  was  hopefully  converted  at  Ha- 
verhill, and  George  Elliott,  who  was  a  subject  of  this  re- 
vival, though  a  native  of  Thornton.  There  was  also 
another  subject  of  this  revival  who  consecrated  himself  to 
the  work  of  the  ministry,  but  was  called  away  by  death 
while  a  member  of  college,  viz :  Leonard  Willey.  In 
speaking  of  these  men  I  think  that  I  shall  speak  truly 
and  give  no  offence  to  any  one,  when  I  utter  the  opinion 
that  the  Haverhill  student,  who  did  so  much  to  promote 


Clergymen  of  Campion.  65 

the  revival  in  this  town,  to  which  I  have  alluded,  was  not 
only  first  in  point  of  time  to  enter  the  ministry,  but  was 
first  also  in  talent,  first  in  piety,  first  in  real  consecration 
to  the  work,  being  as  we  have  reason  to  believe,  richly 
anointed  with  the  Holy  Spirit.  And  he  was  the  fii-st  also 
whom  Infinite  wisdom  saw  best  to  call  home  to  the  bright 
world  of  glory,  to  enjoy  God's  love  in  heaven ;  where, 
doubtless,  many  souls  are  received  as  seals  of  his  minis- 
try and  as  stars  in  the  crown  of  his  rejoicing.  Christo- 
pher Marsh  should  long  be  remembered  with  thanksgiv- 
ing to  God,  by  the  good  people  of  Campton.  And  prob- 
ably many  in  other  places  have  reason  to  thank  God  for 
putting  him  into  the  ministry. 

Perhaps,  in  point  of  talent,  piety  and  a  prospect  for 
usefulness,  we  ought  to  place  next  to  Mr.  Marsh  the  indi- 
vidual who  was  called  home  to  glory  during  his  collegiate 
course.  Leonard  Willey  was  no  unpromising  youth ;  but 
God  saw  best  to  take  him,  ere  he  was  prepared  to  enter 
the  ministry,  to  higher  services  in  glory. 

There  have  been  revivals  of  religion  in  Campton,  and 
many  hopeful  conversions  since  1815,  and  some  of  these 
converts  too  have  entered  the  ministry,  making  the  whole 
number  not  less  than  fourteen,  thirteen  of  whom  are  now 
living  so  far  as  known,  besides  Leonard  Willey  who  con- 
secrated himself  to  the  work,  but  died  ere  his  preparation 
was  completed. 

Inhabitants  of  Campton,  especially  natives,  what  mat- 
ter of  gratitude  to  the  God  of  all  grace  that  from  time  to 
time  He  has  granted  the  influences  of  His  Spirit,  and  so 
gloriously  revived  his  work.  And  in  addition  to  this, 
that  there  have  been  so  many,  who  cannot  only  thank 
God  for  sending  His  Spirit  into  their  hearts  and  drawing 
them  to  Christ,  but,  as  we  humbly  hope,  can  add  "  I 
thank  Jesus  Christ  my  Lord,  for  that  He  counted  me 
faithful  in  putting  me  into  the  ministry."     God  grant  that 


66  Centennial  Celebration. 

all  these  now  living  may  carefully  examine  themselves, 
and  be  found  faithful  unto  the  end.  I  think  one  of  this 
number  may  well  be  particularized  here,  as  having  suffer- 
ed much  during  the  late  rebellion ;  having  to  forsake  all, 
flee  for  his  life,  and  yet  was,  at  last,  taken  by  the  rebels 
and  their  sympathizers  among  the  Indians,  and  probably 
would  have  lost  his  life  but  for  the  persevering  efforts  of 
an  affectionate,  and  beloved  daughter.  I  refer  to  Rev. 
"Worcester  Willey,  missionary  among  the  Indians.  And 
let  me  so  far  advocate  woman's  rights  as  to  mention 
another  individual,  a  lady  missionary,  a  native  of  this 
town  who  was  subjected  to  similar  sufferings  to  those  of 
Mr.  Willey.  I  refer  now  to  Mrs.  Palmer,  whose  maiden 
name  was  Eliza  Giddings,  There  is  another  individual 
who  I  think  should  not  be  forgotten  in  this  connection, 
for  though  he  never  entered  the  ministry,  he  was  a  faith- 
ful missionary  among  the  Indians  for  several  years.  This 
individual  was  a  fatherless  boy  of  some  twelve  or  thirteen 
years  of  age,  in  1830  or  1831,  when  he  attended  a  pro- 
tracted religious  meeting  at  Plymouth,  where  he  was 
hopefully  converted,  and  immediately  became  a  mission- 
ary in  an  important  sense,  as  he  immediately  commenced 
striving  to  persuade  his  associates  to  become  christians. 
On  Sabbath  noon,  he  might  be  seen  conversing  with  those 
near  his  own  age  on  this  all-important  subject.  He  seem- 
ed to  feel,  from  the  very  beginning  of  his  christian  course, 
that  his  own  ease,  convenience  and  comfort  must  be  entire- 
ly subservient  to  God's  will.  Accordingly,  though  he  was 
naturally  near  sighted  and  had  wholly  lost  the  sight  of 
one  eye,  he  felt  that  he  must  try  to  prepare  himself  to 
be  useful.  He  attended  the  Academy  at  Plymouth,  when 
Rev.  Samuel  Reed  Hall  was  principal,  and  acquired  a 
very  good  common  education.  He  then  offered  himself 
to  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Mis- 
sions, and  was  accepted  and  sent  as  a  teacher  among  the 


Clergymen  of  Campton.  67 

Indians,  where  he  continued  his  faithful  labors  till  blind- 
ness prevented  his  doing  more.  He  then  took  up  his  con- 
nexion with  the  Board  and  soon  after  died,  full  of  love  to 
God  and  the  souls  of  men.  It  was  said  of  him  by  a  per- 
son of  excellent  judgment,  who  knew  him  well,  "  I  never 
knew  so  self-denying  a  man  as  Charles  Pulsifer."  Will 
our  christian  friends  be  pleased  to  offer  their  prayers  for 
clergymen,  natives  of  Campton,  who  may  be  still  living, 
that  they  may  ever  stand  firm  in  God's  counsel,  and  as 
they  have  strength  and  opportunity  cause  the  people  to 
hear  His  Word  ;  being  preserved  by  Him  who  walketh  in 
the  midst  of  the  golden  candlesticks  and  holdeth  the  stars 
in  his  right  hand. 

And  now  as  we  have  been  looking  back  upon  some  few 
events  of  the  past,  how  naturally  are  we  drawn  to  an- 
ticipate the  future,  and  earnestly  entreat  Him  who  ever 
lives  and  watches  over  the  interests  of  His  kindgom  upon 
the  earth,  who  waits  to  be  gracious,  hears  prayer  and  is 
ready  to  bestow  His  blessing,  that  He  will  in  the  century 
to  come,  revive  His  work  an  hundred  fold  in  Campton, 
and  in  other  places  through  the  land  and  world  ;  and  far 
down  in  the  hearts  of  great  multitudes  cause  to  be  felt 
the  hidden  power  of  Divine  Grace,  working  mightily  at 
the  very  fountain  of  life  and  action,  and  raising  up  scores 
of  gospel  ministers,  even  here  in  Campton,  far  more  rich- 
ly anointed  with  the  Holy  Ghost  than  any  of  their  prede- 
cessors ever  have  been.  And  in  view  of  the  signs  of  the 
times  and  the  predictions  of  God's  Word,  may  we  not 
hope  that  ere  another  century  close  or  not  very  far  beyond 
that  time  that  the  voice  of  a  great  multitude,  like  that  of 
many  waters  and  many  thunder ings,  shall  be  heard  say- 
ing "  Alleluia,  for  the  Lord  God  Omnipotent  reigneth." 


Centennial  Celebration. 


COMMON  SCHOOLS. 


BY   W.    C.    BLAIR. 


Mr.  President  :  In  response  to  the  sentiment  just 
read,  I  confess  myself  utterly  at  loss  in  the  brief  time, 
which  I  know  I  must  occupy  to  do  anything  like  adequate 
justice  to  the  theme. 

The  distinguishing  characteristic  of  our  American  civ- 
ilization, and  especially  the  New  England  type  of  that 
civilization,  is  the  intelligence  of  the  mass  of  the  people. 
In  Spain,  in  France,  in  Russia,  even  in  classic  Italy,  in 
short  in  all  Europe, — except  perchance  some  of  the  Ger- 
man States,  and  possibly  Sweden, — we  find  among  the 
great  body  of  the  people  that  ignorance  is  the  rule  and 
knowledge  the  exception. 

But  it  is  not  so  here.  The  people  in  this  country  read 
the  newspapers  and  the  Bible,  discuss  politics  and  theolo- 
gy, and  vote  and  worship  as  they  please.  There  the 
mass  of  the  population  are  chiefly  interested  in  cock 
fights,  bull  fights,  bear  gardens,  masquerade  balls  and  the 
inevitable  theatres  of  high  and  low  degree. 

Now  what  is  true  of  our  civilization  as  a  whole,  comes 
out  in  bold  relief  when  considered  in  detail.  For  in- 
stance. New  England  in  the  methods  and  success  of  popu- 
lar education  is  far  in  advance  of  the  rest  of  the  country, 
and  Massachusetts  is  in  advance  of  any  State  in  New 
England,  and  some  towns  and  cities  in  that  great  com- 
monwealth in  advance  of  a  large  majority  of  the  residue 
of  towns  and  cities. 

So  in  our  own  State,  in  the  methods  and  means  of  dif- 
fusing knowledge  among  the  masses ;  some  towns  are 
much  superior  to  others,  and  I  claim  here  and  now,  that 
in  this  respect,  Campton  occupies  a  proud  pre-eminence. 


Common  Schools.  69 

Within  my  own  remembrance,  I  recollect  that  our 
good  old  town  was  the  pioneer  in  the  school  house  reform 
in  this  part  of  the  State.  The  first  old  school  house  that 
gave  place  to  a  fine  structure,  complete  in  all  its  apart- 
ments, was  at  the  village.  I  well  remember  that  our 
wealthy  and  enterprising  neighbors,  in  the  most  charming 
village  in  this  beautiful  valley  of  the  Pemigewasset,  were 
content  with  about  as  wretched  and  dilapidated  a  speci- 
men of  school  architecture  as  ever  shocked  human  vision 
or  gave  to  the  very  swine  that  might  pass  that  way,  long- 
ing for  a  habitation  and  a  home.  Yet  that  unseemly 
structure  for  the  diffusion  of  knowledge  to  young  ideas, 
perched  upon  an  almost  inaccessible  bluff",  existed  for 
several  years  after  the  comparatively  poor  village  of  Camp- 
ton  had  such  a  school  house  as  I  have  before  mentioned, 
at  once  the  pride  and  boast  of  the  whole  town. 

Campton,  I  say  then,  was  the  pioneer  in  the  great  work 
of  making  decent  habitations  for  public  instruction,  and  if 
our  good  mother  to-day  stands  more  prosperous  in  her 
general  material  interests,  in  her  enterprises  for  the  pub- 
lic welfare,  in  her  quiet  but  not  less  earnest  devotion  to 
the  practical  business  of  good  living,  and  by  the  term 
good  living,  I  mean  to  include  the  practice  of  all  moral 
and  spiritual  virtues ;  if,  in  a  word,  Campton  really  is, 
and  she  is,  one  of  the  first  towns  in  the  State,  it  is  due 
more  than  to  any  one  other  thing,  to  the  high  character 
of  her  public  schools.  She  has  always  stood  high  in  this 
regard.  From  the  early  settlement  of  the  town  down 
through  the  ten  decades  of  her  existence,  her  schools 
have  been  superior,  and  her  sons  and  daughters  have  been 
the  recipients  of  better  instruction,  and  more  of  it  than 
has  been  vouchsafed  to  the  people  of  most  of  our  New 
Hampshire  towns. 

But  this  subject  opens  up  a  wide  field,  and  I  might 
occupy  a  full  hour  in  observations  upon  this  line  of 


70  Centennial  Celebration. 

thought.  I  forbear,  however,  as  the  teachers  of  Campton 
claim  our  attention  for  a  few  moments. 

Of  course  there  must  of  necessity  in  every  town  be 
two  classes  of  teachers,  to  wit :  Natives  of  the  town 
who  taught  school  in  the  town  and  abroad,  and  those  who 
were  not  natives  that  came  into  the  town  to  teach. 

Of  the  eai'ly  teachers  of  Campton,  I  know  but  little. 
Enough  evidence,  however,  exists  of  their  diligence, 
fidelity  and  efficiency,  in  those  instructed  by  them  in  their 
day,  as  evinced  by  what  they  have  achieved  in  after  life. 

Perhaps  of  more  modern  days,  I  may  be  able  to  sug- 
gest a  few  incidents  of  interest.  During  the  Autumn 
and  Winter  of  1862  and  1863,  I  happened,  by  accident, 
to  board  for  a  few  weeks  where  several  of  the  Judges  of 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  boarded,  and 
during  that  time  I  became  acquainted  with  one  of  their 
number,  who  imformed  me  that  the  first  school  that  he 
ever  taught  was  at  Campton  Village.  In  conversation 
with  him,  I  observed  that  his  appreciation  of  the  solid 
and  stable  character  of  Campton  people,  induced  him  to 
bear  high  testimony  both  to  the  intellectual  and  moral 
worth  of  the  people.  Without  making  any  invidious  dis- 
tinction, it  is  enough  to  say  that  almost  every  family  was 
mentioned,  among  whom  I  well  remember  the  ^Willeys, 
Bakers,  Pulsifei's,  Littles,  Holmes',  Clarks,  Spencers,  and 
many  others.  Judge  Clifford's  idea  of  the  superior  char- 
acter of  the  people  of  the  town,  was,  I  know  predicated 
upon  the  excellence  of  their  schools. 

I  have  the  honor  of  an  intimate  acquaintance  with 
another  teacher  of  the  village  school.  I  refer  to  my  bril- 
liant and  accomplished  townsman,  Col.  T.  J.  Whipple, 
one  of  the  most  remarkable  men  of  our  time,  in  many  re- 
spects. 

He  taught  the  school  at  Campton  Village  about  thirty- 
three  years  ago,  and  his  reminiscences  of  that  time  are 


Common  Schools.  71 

exceedingly  interesting.  1  remember  among  other  things 
an  incident  showing  the  discipline  he  had  in  his  school. 
The  minister,  as  was  the  custom,  visited  the  school,  and 
his  son,  a  boy  about  fifteen  years  old,  at  that  precise  age 
at  which  boys  know  more  than  ever  afterwai'ds,  attended 
the  school.  Presuming,  upon  his  father's  presence  as  a 
source  of  protection,  the  j^oungster  took  advantage  of  the 
occasion  and  behaved  with  most  unseemly  rudeness. 
Tom,  as  we  familiarly  called  him  at  home,  called  the 
youth  into  the  floor  and  administered  to  him  in  the  pres- 
ence of  his  father,  a  most  severe  castigation.  The  father, 
unlike  many  parents,  congratulated  the  teacher  and  prom- 
ised to  administer  the  same  punishment  when  the  disobe- 
dient lad  reached  home.  The  Colonel  also  related  many 
other  incidents  of  interest  connected  with  his  school 
teaching  experience  in  Campton. 

Of  teachers  who  taught  away  from  Campton,  nearly 
every  professional  man  here  to-day  or  absent,  has  at  some 
time  in  his  life,  been  a  common  school  teacher,  and  with 
many  of  them  it  was. the  only  means  by  which  they  were 
enabled  to  obtain  their  education.  Of  them  it  may  be 
justly  said,  that  their  success  in  professional  life  is  ample 
evidence  of  their  capacity  and  influence  as  teachers. 

One  teacher  who  was  a  native  of  this  town,  made  teach- 
ing a  profession,  and  who  had  long  experience  both  at 
home  and  abroad,  I  cannot  help  calling  to  j^'our  particular 
notice.  I  refer  to  Samuel  R.  Adams.  In  the  .late  war, 
his  valuable  life,  with  hundreds  of  thousands  of  others, 
was  given  as  a  sacrifice  upon  the  altar  of  his  country,  to 
make  it  free  indeed.  He  has  passed  away,  but  his  in- 
fluence and  his  example,  have  survived  the  patriot's  grave. 
As  a  teacher  he  had  unusual  capacity.  He  knew  how  to 
command  the  loA^e  as  well  as  obedience  of  all  his  pupils. 
He  was  firm,  yet  not  harsh,  ruling  with  kindness,  yet  al- 
ways holding  his   school  closely  in  hand.     In  him  were 


72  Centennial  Celebration. 

united  all  the  qualities  of  a  good  teacher,  and  he  exempli- 
fied in  his  life  and  character  the  highest  qualities  of  a 
christian  and  a  gentleman.  Can  I  pay  higher  compli- 
ment than  this  to  mortal  man  ? 

There  are  very  many  others,  whom  I  have  in  mind,  and 
would  gladly  mention  in  this  connection,  but  I  am  re- 
minded I  have  already  occupied  too  much  of  your  time. 
And  in  conclusion  permit  me  to  offer  the  following  senti- 
ment: 

The  future  of  Campion.  If  she  is  as  faithful  to  the 
interests  of  popular  education  in  the  years  that  are  to 
come  as  in  the  past,  she  will  ever  remain,  materially,  in- 
tellectually and  morally,  among  the  foremost  of  New 
England  towns. 


THE  SABBATH  SCHOOLS  OF  CAMPTON. 


BY   W.    CHASE. 


It  is  well  known  that  there  are  in  the  solid  ledge  of  the 
beautiful  Connecticut  Valley,  many  clear  and  distinct 
tracks  of  birds  ;  footprints  of  small  as  well  as  large  mem- 
bers of  the  feathered  tribe.  The  natural  question  that 
arises  in  view  of  this  fact  is,  "  How  came  they  there  ?" 
We  conclude  that  a  long,  long  time  ago  the  red  sand  stone 
ledge,  so  hard  now,  was  in  a  soft  plastic  state,  prepared 
to  receive  whatever  impressions  might  be  made  upon  it. 
Then  it  must  be  these  birds  walked  upon  the  plastic  yield- 
ing substance,  that  since  has  become  hard  and  firm,  re- 
taining as  the  record  of  iron  pen  this  account  of  their 
transactions  in  those  early  days.  Thus  it  is  with  the  hu- 
man mind  in  childhood,  it  is  wonderfully  plastic,  prepar- 


Sabbath  Schools  of  Campion.  73 

ed  expressly  by  the  hand  of  the  Allwise  Creator  to  readi- 
ly receive  and  imperishably  retain  impressions.  Our 
Puritan  fathers  were  persecuted  in  England  because  they 
worshiped  God,  as  they  thought  they  ought,  and  therefore 
they  sought  an  asj'lum  in  Holland.  But  although  they 
were  there  allowed  to  worship  God  and  instruct  their 
children  as  they  believed  right,  they  soon  found  that  the 
habits  and  manners  of  the  Dutch  youth  had  a  pernicious 
influence  on  their  children,  and  must  unavoidably  tend  to 
corrupt  their  morals  and  prevent  their  training  them  in. 
the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord,  To  this  they 
could  not  be  reconciled.  The  new  world  through  the 
skill  and  enterprise  of  Columbus  had  been  discovered, 
and  they  determined  to  seek  a  home  in  it,  hoping  there  to 
be  free  from  those  contaminating  influences  that  had  oper- 
ated so  unfavorably  on  their  youth.  They  therefore  em- 
barked upon  the  bosom  of  the  mighty  deep,  in  the  imper- 
fect sailing  vessels  of  that  day,  and  after  a  long  and  dan- 
gerous voyage,  landed  on  the  bleak  and  inhospitable  shore 
of  Cape  Cod. 

Be  it  remembered  then,  that  our  fathers  left  all  the 
privileges  and  comforts  of  a  long  settled  and  fertile  coun- 
try, and  buflTeted  the  waves  and  exposed  themselves  to 
the  dangers  of  the  billowy  deep,  and  came  to  this  wilder- 
ness to  dwell  amongst  wild  beasts  and  more  savage  men, 
to  suffer  from  privation  and  want  for  the  express  purpose 
of  training  their  children  in  habits  of  piety  and  virtue. 
Honor  to  tlieir  memory.  They  valued  the  right  training 
and  instmction  of  their  children  more  than  all  worldly 
good.  With  these  views  and  purposes,  combined  with 
the  wisdom  that  cometh  from  above,  they  erected  the 
church  and  placed  the  school  house  in  its  friendly  shade, 
and  brought  their  combined  influence  to  operate  in  in- 
structing the  minds  and  moulding  the  hearts  of  their 
youth.    They  sought  and  procured  holy  and  wise  men  to 


74  Centennial  Celebration. 

Instruct  them  in  the  word  of  God  and  lead  them  in  His 
worship.  Here  they  all,  young  and  old,  repaired  every 
Sabbath  and  on  other  days  when  they  thought  it  expe- 
dient, to  the  house  dedicated  to  this  purpose,  and  listen- 
ed with  unwearied  attention  while  their  teacher  expound- 
ed God's  word  and  brought  forth  his  stores  of  theological 
lore.  They  also  instructed  their  children  around  the 
family  altar  and  at  their  firesides  in  the  sacred  scriptures, 
and  had  them  commit  portions  of  them  to  memory.  They 
secured  the  services  of  persons  qualified  by  good  charac- 
ter, learning  and  skill,  to  teach  the  children  to  read  and 
write,  and  the  elementary  principles  of  science.  And  all 
of  suitable  age  were  required  to  repair  to  the  school  house 
on  week  days,  a  portion  of  the  year  at  least,  to  receive 
this  important  instruction.  Thus  a  new  and  important 
era  was  commenced  in  the  history  of  civilization,  in 
which  all,  whatever  the  circumstances  or  pecuniary  con- 
dition of  their  parents,  were  taught  the  rudiments  of 
science,  and  the  foundation  of  general  intelligence  was 
securely  laid.  But  another  institution  was  needed  to  more 
fully  develop  the  religious  nature  and  more  effectually 
mould  the  heart  aright.  This  is  the  Sabbath  School. 
Here  the  scholar  is  brought  under  the  influence  of  those 
best  qualified  by  piety  and  intelligence,  tact  and  skill,  to 
cultivate  the  higher  nature.  The  word  of  God,  the  most 
eflectual  means  in  this  work,  is  brought  into  close  contact 
with  the  mind  and  heart  at  the  most  favorable  time.  And 
when  we  take  into  consideration  these  facts,  and  especial- 
ly the  inability  of  many  parents  to  well  instruct,  and  the 
indifierence  of  others  in  regard  to  the  religious  instruc- 
tion and  training  of  their  childi-en,  we  cannot  but  feel  the 
importance  of  this  institution  in  bringing  forward  the 
glorious  period  in  the  world's  history,  clearly  predicted 
of  in  God's  word,  when  none  need  to  say  to  his  neighbor, 
"  Know  the  Lord,"  for  all  shall  know  Him  from  the  least 
to  the  greatest. 


SabbatJi  Schools  of  Campion.  75 

The  descendants  of  the  Puritans  many  years  ago,  savr 
the  importance  of  this  institution  and  organized  Sabbath 
Schools  all  over  New  England.  And  the  goodly  town  of 
Campton  was  not  wanting  in  wise  and  good  men  to  carry 
forward  this  work.  In  1822  or  about  this  time,  Rev. 
Daniel  Pulsifer,  who  so  appropriately  asked  God  to  grant 
His  blessing  on  this  occasion,  with  some  others  whose 
hearts  God  had  touched,  to  act  for  the  rising  race,  met 
and  organized  a  Sabbath  School  in  connection  with  the 
public  worship  of  the  Congregational  church.  It  has 
since  that  time  been  conducted  with  good  success,  much 
of  the  time  embracing  a  large  part  of  the  congregation. 
It  has  greatly  benefitted  societj^,  promoted  the  right  ob- 
servance of  the  Sabbath,  and  above  all  has  aided  many 
to  find  Christ  and  heaven.  Many  will  rise  up  in  heaven, 
I  doubt  not,  and  call  the  founders  and  faithful  laborers  in 
this  school  blessed.  About  the  time  that  this  school  was 
organized,  Edmund  Cook,  since  gone  to  his  reward,  invit- 
ed the  children  in  the  north  part  of  the  town  to  come  to- 
gether and  organized  them  into  a  Sabbath  School  and 
taught  them  with  good  success.  His  zeal  and  sacrifice  in 
this  work  of  love,  is  worthy  of  special  commendation.  I 
frequently  meet  those  who  enjoyed  his  instruction  and 
labor  to  encourage  them  to  learn  Scripture  truth  and  im- 
prove in  this  school.  They  tell  me  that  he  used  to  make 
little  trunks,  and  present  them  to  those  who  were  most 
constant  and  diligent  in  their  efforts.  After  a  time  the 
Baptist  Society  built  a  house  of  worship  and  organized  a 
school  in  connection  with  the  church  that  worshipped 
there,  and  it  has  been  a  great  blessing  to  many.  The 
speaker  cannot  forbear  here  to  gratefully  express  his  obli- 
gation to  the  founders  and  friends  of  this  school.  He 
expects  to  bless  God  forever  that  he  was  led  in  early 
childhood  into  this  sacred  institution,  and  especially  that 
he  was  encouraged  to  learn  portions  of  Scripture  to  recite 


76  Centennial  Celehration. 

there.  More  recently  a  meeting  for  public  worship  has 
been  established,  and  a  Sabbath  School  organized  in  the 
west  part  of  the  town  by  the  Freewill  Baptist  Church,  which 
I  doubt  not  has  been  well  conducted  and  accomplished 
much  good.  Other  schools  have  been  gathered  and  sus- 
tained for  a  short  time  in  school  houses  in  various  parts 
of  the  town.  But  I  think  now  there  are  only  these  three 
that  have  been  mentioned  that  are  in  operation. 

But  are  there  not  districts  in  town  where  a  wise  and 
enterprising  christian  laborer  can  collect  jewels  for  the 
Saviour's  crown  by  gathering  the  children,  and  teaching 
them  the  truths  of  the  gospel  of  Jesus,  and  obtain  for 
himself  a  reward  which  is  of  more  value  than  all  the  pre- 
cious treasures  of  earth?  If  the  seed  of  God's  word  is 
not  sown  in  their  hearts,  it  will  never  spring  up  and  bring 
forth  fruit  unto  their  salvation.  And  if  it  be  not  sown 
there  in  childhood,  it  wiil  not  be  very  likely  to  take  root 
so  as  to  bear  this  fruit  at  all.  Who  will  sow  it  ?  Or  shall 
they  be  neglected  to  perish, — to  lose  eternal  life,  to  be 
cast  off,  and  the  Saviour  lose  their  praise  ?  What  an  ap- 
peal does  this  case  present  to  those  who  love  Christ  and 
priceless  souls.  In  view  of  the  readiness  of  children  to 
receive  impressions,  and  the  tenacity,  undying  tenacity 
with  which  they  retain  them,  what  encouragement  there 
is  to  gather  them  together  on  the  Sabbath  and  teach  them 
the  Word  of  God,  which  is  able  to  mould  them  into  the 
image  of  Jesus.  And  in  view  of  the  facts  in  the  case  we 
ask  all  to  carefully  consider  the  question,  "  Is  not  the 
Sabbath  School  the  most  efficient  of  all  means  to  hasten 
the  glorious  era  when  the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of  God 
shall  fill  the  earth  and  all  shall  know  the  Lord  from  the 
least  to  the  greatest  ?"  Our  duty  is  plain,  our  encourage- 
ment is  gi'eat,  to  labor  to  bring  every  child  into  the  Sab- 
bath school  and  to  exert  the  most  sacred  influence  upon 
his  mind  and  heart  while  he  is  there. 


Remarks  by  Rev.  Mr.  Smith.  li 


"  HOW  DEAR  TO  MY  HEART  ARE  THE  SCENES 
OF  MY  CHILDHOOD." 


BY  REV.  FRENCH  SMITH. 


Mr.  President — Ladies  and  Gentleman  : 

I  once  heard  of  a  public  speaker  who,  in  addressing  his 
audience,  stated  that  he  remembered  certain  events  that 
occurred  when  his  grandmother  was  a  little  girl.  I  sup- 
pose he  intended  to  say  he  remembered  of  hearing  his 
grandmother  relate  certain  events  that  occurred  when  she 
was  a  little  girl. 

Now,  Mr.  President,  I  think  I  should  find  no  difficulty 
in  interesting  this  audience  in  speaking  upon  the  scenes 
of  my  childhood,  if  among  those  scenes  were  the  events 
connected  with  the  early  history  of  this  town  which  oc- 
curred when  my  grandparents  were  little  children.  And 
as  there  were  interesting  scenes  iu  the  days  of  their  child- 
hood which  were  peculiar  to  the  first  settlements  in  this 
town,  —  which  events  we  have  come  here  to-day  to  com- 
memorate, —  it  may  be  proper  for  me  briefly  to  refer  to  a 
few  of  them. 

It  is  eighty-eight  years  since  my  grandfather,  a  beard- 
less boy  of  nine  years,  came  to  Campton.  How  interest- 
ing to  contemplate  the  scenes  of  that  early  day  ;  to  go  in 
imagination  among  the  scattered  settlers  and  see  them 
laboring  with  their  rude  implements  of  agi'iculture,  some 
specimens  of  which  are  here  to-day,  and  then  to  enter 
their  humble  dwellings  and  partake  of  a  Rebekah's  veni- 
son served  on  wooden  plates,  or  with  a  pewter  spoon  eat 
lucious  bean-ponidge.  Or  coming  down  nine  years  later 
in  the  history  of  the  town,  to  the  time  my  great-grand- 
father Giddings,  moved  from  Newburyport,  Massachusetts, 


78  Centennial  Celebration. 

to  Campton,  we  find  scenes  strange  and  ludicrous.  My 
great-grandmother  rode  on  horseback,  carrying  her  young- 
est child  in  her  arms.  The  rest  of  the  children  either 
went  on  foot  or  rode,  —  not  in  a  stage  coach,  or  railroad 
car  drawn  by  the  boiling  teakettle  which  has  been  men- 
tioned here  to-day,  —  but  in  a  cart  propelled  by  ox  power 
at  the  usual  bovine  speed. 

They  completed  their  journey  in  about  a  week,  thus 
occupying  more  time  than  is  now  necessary  in  going  from 
Maine  to  Kansas.  Among  the  valuables  which  that  cart 
contained  was  this  book  which  I  hold  in  my  hand,  entitled 
*'  The  Fulfilling  of  the  Scriptures."  It  was  printed  by 
Robert  Fleming,  in  Boston,  Massachusetts,  in  1743,  and 
is  consequently  one  hundred  and  twenty-four  years  old. 
It  was  first  owned  by  my  grandmother's  grandmother  in 
the  days  of  her  girlhood,  and  her  name,  Abigail  Bartlett, 
is  legibly  written  on  the  first  page.  Among  those  that 
rode  in  the  cart  was  a  blushing  maiden  of  sweet  sixteen, 
named  Polly.  Miss  Polly,  notwithstanding  her  ride  in 
the  cart,  was  too  dignified  to  give  her  hand  in  matrimony 
to  the  green  boys  of  Campton,  and  as  a  reward  for  her 
folly  she  has  been  living  an  old  maid  for  the  last  sixty- 
five  years.  Next  Monday  is  her  ninty-sixth  birthday. 
Even  these  scenes,  which  we  never  saw  only  in  imagina- 
tion, are  dear  to  our  hearts  from  the  reverence  we  have 
for  our  ancestry.  But  in  many  respects  the  scenes  of  our 
fathers'  were  the  scenes  of  our  childhood.  It  is  true  the 
forests  had  fallen  before  the  woodman's  ax,  the  log  houses 
with  their  huge  fireplaces  had  given  way  to  more  comfort- 
able dwellings  ;  instead  of  the  howl  of  the  wolf  there  was 
heard  the  rattling  of  the  stage  coach  or  the  whistling  of 
the  engine,  but  the  everlasting  hills  remained  with  their 
rocky  sides  and  rippling  brooks.  The  same  pure  moun- 
tain breezes  blow  o'er  these  hills  and  through  these  vales 
now  as  then,  the  same  varieties  of  flowers  bud  and  bios- 


Remarks  of  Rev.  Mr.  Smith.  79 

som,  the  same  species  of  birds  now  as  then  make  their 
annual  visits  and  warble  forth  the  same  sweet  songs  of 
praise  to  Him  who  made  them.  The  church  organized  in 
the  days  of  our  grand-parents  had  its  existence  in  the  days 
of  our  childhood  and  long  may  it  thrive  a  nursery  of 
piety,  a  blessing  to  the  world. 

Dearer  to  our  hearts  are  these  rugged  hills  with  their 
•  beautiful  and  varied  scenery,  than  the  expansive  prairies 
of  the  West  or  the  rich  cotton  fields  of  the  South.  Here 
the  first  and  most  lasting  impressions  of  our  lives  were 
made.  The  scenes  of  childhood,  who  can  forget  them? 
The  solemnities  of  a  funeral ;  the  festivity  of  a  marriage  ; 
how  impressive.  How  bright  are  the  sunny  dreams  of 
childhood ;  the  heart  unacquainted  with  grief,  unbroken 
by  affliction's  rod,  is  buoyant  with  hope.  Pleasures  and 
blessedness,  unmixed  with  woe,  gild  the  future  pathway 
of  life.  When  in  after  years  experience  has  blasted  many 
of  our  fond  hopes,  and  pleasures  for  which  we  never  look- 
ed have  been  ours  to  enjoy,  how  pleasant  to  bring  to  mind 
the  anticipations  of  childhood.  And  the  scenes  of  our 
childhood  bring  fresh  to  our  memories  the  thoughts,  sor- 
rows, joys,  words  and  acts  of  our  childhood,  and  those 
scenes  also  bring  fresh  to  our  memories  parents  and 
grandparents,  schoolmates  and  youthful  associates,  many, 
very  many  of  whom  have  gone  to  that  land  from  whence 
no  traveler  returns.  Go  to  the  aged  and  perhaps  the 
events  of  yesterday  are  forgotten,  but  if  there  is  anything 
clear  in  their  memories  it  is  the  scenes  of  their  childhood. 
Go  to  the  bed  of  the  dying  and  they  too  are  thinking  up- 
on the  scenes  of  their  childhood  and  seem  to  derive  satis- 
faction by  being  assured  that  they  shall  be  buried  by  the 
graves  of  their  fathers.  Many  of  the  sons  and  daughters 
of  Carapton  who  have  died  in  distant  towns  or  other 
States,  have  been  brought  to  the  scenes  of  their  child- 
hood for  intennent.     And  this  sentiment  is  no  new  princi- 


86  Centennial  Celebration. 

pie. '  We  read  that  Israel  charged  his  sons  that  they  bury 
him  with  his  fathers  in  the  cave  of  Machpelah,  saying 
**  there  they  buried  Abraham  and  Sarah  his  wife  ;  there 
they  buried  Isaac  and  Rebekah  his  wife  ;  and  there  I  bur- 
ied Rachel." 

Dear,  thrice  dear  to  our  hearts,  are  the  scenes  of  our 
childhood,  and  long  will  we  cherish  a  sacred  memory  of 
the  town  which  contains  the  graves  of  our  pious  ancestry  ' 
and  gave  us  our  birth.  And  when  our  "  dust  shall  return 
to  the  earth  as  it  was,  and  our  spirits  shall  return  unto 
God  who  gave  them,"  then  may  our  ashes  repose  in  yon- 
der beautiful  cemetery  in  this  lovely  valley  of  the  Pemige- 
wasset,  amid  the  scenes  of  our  childhood. 


THE  SOLDIERS  OF  THE  UNION. 


BY   H.    W.    BLAIR. 


In  reviewing  the  century  which  expires  to-day  and 
which  comprises  more  than  the  whole  period  of  the  his- 
tory of  the  Union,  we  find  that  we  have  not  been  exempt 
from  the  common  experience  of  nations.  We  have  pass- 
ed through  peace  and  war,  through  prosperity  and  adversi- 
ty. America  has  a  better  form  of  Government  and  of 
social  organization,  a  higher  type  of  civilization  develop- 
ing, if  not  already  developed,  than  exist  anyvrhere  else 
on  the  earth.  Yet  this  day's  retrospect  reminds  us  that 
although  in  advance  of  all  other  nations,  we  are  of  the 
same  common  nature  and  subject  to  the  operation  of  the 
same  inexorable  laws.  Like  that  of  the  rest  of  mankind 
much  of  our  history  too  is  written  in  blood. 

Some  philosophers  have  taught  that  war  is  the  natural 


Itemarlcs  by  11.  W.  Blair.  81 

condition  of  mankind,  and  it  is  certain  that  no  great  land- 
mark has  been  set  up  in  the  progress  of  the  race  without 
war. 

The  great  epochs  of  history  have  been  baptized  in 
blood.  Popular  freedom  has  been  bom  in  battle,  and 
reared  amid  "  the  clash  of  resounding  arms."  By  means 
of  war  the  greatest  practical  good  has  been  realized  by 
the  masses  of  men,  and  a  review  of  the  century  just  past 
proves  that  relentless,  devastating,  terrible  war,  is  still 
the  chief  agency  employed  by  the  Supreme  Ruler  of  the 
universe  in  removing  the  hoary  obstructions  reared  by 
ignorance,  superstition  and  depravity  in  the  pathway  of 
man,  to  a  more  exalted  destiny.  Even  the  Prince  of 
Peace  came  not  to  bring  peace  but  by  the  sword,  and  the 
religious  wars  that  have  in  their  prosecution  blasted  the 
earth  as  flames  of  the  pit  might  blast  the  gardens  of  para- 
dise, attest  how  true  it  is  that  such  is  the  lamentable  na- 
ture of  man  that  Emanuel  disseminates  even  the  religion 
of  love,  by  means  of  the  organized  destruction  of  human 
life. 

The  true  soldier  is  one  of  the  highest  tj^es  of  man. 
He  fights  only  when  inspired  by  a  great  cause.  Battles, 
the  physical  combat,  the  bloody  collision  of  armed  masses 
of  men,  the  torn  field  covered  with  ghastly  corses  and 
echoing  with  the  agonies  of  the  wounded, — the  wail  of 
defeat  and  the  shout  of  triumph, — these  are  but  the  inci- 
dents, the  sad  and  unavoidable  incidents,  not  the  reality 
of  war.  They  may  conceal  from  common  vision  the  true 
nature  of  the  contest,  but  the  true  soldier  sees  through 
and  above  it  ail,  the  desperate  conflict  of  irreconcilable 
principles,  the  eternal  struggle  between  right  and  wrong. 
Nor  is  it  because  death  is  less  formidable  to  him  than  to 
others,  that  the  ties  and  endearments  of  home  and  kin- 
dred are  less  precious, — that  the  liiir  green  earth,  the 
sublime  forms  of  the  mountains,  mighty  forests,  happy 


82  Centennial  Celebration. 

Talleys  and  smiling  waters,  the  song  of  birds,  zephyrs, 
and  the  requiems  of  the  air, — that  nature  with  her  ten 
thousand  charms,  has  none  for  him,  that  he  leads  the  im- 
petuous charge  on  and  challenges  the  treacherous  assaults 
of  malignant  disease.  Insensibility  to  danger  is  not 
courage.  The  man  who  comprehends  danger  and  by  the 
power  of  superior  motives  conquers  fear,  alone  is  made 
of  the  true  stuff  and  is  a  hero.  And  it  is  because  his 
soul  is  blazing  with  the  holy  fire  of  a  cause  sacred  and 
sublime,  that  he  cares  not  for  limb  or  life,  or  any  of  the 
bolts  of  fate. 

It  is  eminently  fitting  on  this  centennial  occasion,  when 
our  eyes  are  turned  to  behold  the  long  train  of  wonderful 
events  by  which  the  wilderness  has  been  transformed  into 
the  happy  home  of  a  civilized  and  christian  common- 
wealth, that  the  *'  soldiers  of  the  Union"  be  held  in  hon- 
orable remembrance. 

The  first  soldiers  of  Cami^ton  were  soldiers  of  the 
Union,  and  some  of  the  first  and  bravest  soldiers  of  the 
Union  were  from  Campton. 

The  historian  says  that  this  town  although  so  recently 
settled  furnished  ten  men  who  upheld  the  Declaration 
with  their  "  lives,  their  fortunes  and  their  sacred  honors." 
They  shed  their  blood  in  the  time  that  tried  mens'  souls. 
Rebels  they  were  against  tyrants,  but  the  chosen  warriors 
of  the  Most  High  God.  WhiJe  some  of  them  left  their 
bones  on  the  battlefield  in  distant  States,  others  returned 
to  enjoy  a  ripe  old  age  under  the  protection  of  that  glor- 
ious banner  whose  ample  folds  their  hands  first  flung  to 
the  breezes  of  heaven.  Now  they  have  passed  away,  and 
their  sacred  dust  sleeps  calmly  beneath  the  soil  their  valor 
redeemed. 

And  Campton  soldiers  fought  for  the  Union  when  the 
jealousy  and  impotent  wrath  of  baffled  Britain,  her  wound- 
ed pride  still  smarting  under  the  mortifying  memories  of 


Bemarks  by  H.  W.  Blair.  &3 

the  revolutionary  war,  led  her  to  attempt  to  sweep  our 
commerce  from  the  seas  and  chain  the  billows  of  the 
mighty  deep.  The  struggle  of  1776  liberated  the  conti- 
nent and  set  in  motion  a  train  of  causes  that  seems  des- 
tined to  free  every  acre  of  land  trodden  by  the  foot  of 
man. 

The  war  of  1812  was  to  emancipate  the  waters  of  the 
world,  and  worthy  sons  reared  by  revolutionary  sires,  im- 
bibing freedom  with  every  breath  drawn  among  theu'  na- 
tive hills  hurried  to  die  at  the  summons  of  their  country, 
and  by  their  consecrated  valor  they  saved  the  priceless 
heritage  the  fathers  had  bequeathed,  while  the  attentive 
world  wondered  to  behold  the  heroism  which  triumphed 
at  Lexington  and  Bunker  Hill  and  Saratoga  and  York- 
town,  again  in  the  ascendant  at  Plattsburgh  and  New  Or- 
leans, and  on  the  slippery  decks  of  our  matchless  men-of- 
war. 

And  in  our  last  tremendous  struggle  for  very  life,  many 
brave  sons  of  Campton  have  fought,  and  alas !  some  have 
fallen  too,  for  the  Union.  Eight  men  of  fourteen  who 
enlisted  in  a  single  company  gave  up  their  lives  within  a 
year.  Better  men  never  fell  for  the  rights  of  man ;  and 
many  others  equally  worthy  fell,  of  whom  the  time  would 
fail  us  to  speak  their  praise.  It  is  enough,  and  all  that 
on  this  brief  occasion  we  can  say,  that  sons  of  Campton 
have  fought  every  foe  of  the  Union  and  that  the  sod  re- 
news its  annual  verdure  above  them  on  every  battle-field 
of  our  land. 

Departed  spirits,  —  who  have  passed  beyond  the  vi- 
cisitudes  of  time  to  partake  the  eternal  rest  of  the  bless- 
ed, —  we  cherish  the  recollection  of  your  earthly  forms 
with  tears,  while  we  hail  your  celestial  presence  with 
transcendant  joy.  For  you  death  had  no  terrors.  Filled 
with  sacred  enthusiasm  in  a  noble  cause  your  mortal 
career  closed  in  a  zenith  of  light,  and  as  the  thunders  of 


84  Centennial  Celebration. 

battle  vanished  on  your  dying  senses  the  music  of  the 
heavenly  gates  "  on  golden  hinges  turning  and  of  beauti- 
fied choirs  welcomed  your  ascending  souls  to  the  society 
of  the  long  glorified  father."  Hushed  be  the  tumult  of 
life  as  with  the  eye  of  faith  we  gaze  on  your  transfigured 
forms.  Long  shall  your  memory  live  on  these  mortal 
shores.  Affection  has  embalmed  you  in  her  choicest 
shrine.  The  patriot  shall  emulate  your  example  in  life 
and  in  death,  and  the  christian  as  he  enters  the  vallej'^  of 
the  shadow  of  death  shall  light  his  torch  in  the  effulgent 
hope  that  glorified  your  exit.  Peace  be  unto  your  ashes 
wherever  they  lie.  God's  guardian  angels  watch  over 
them  and  bedew  with  tears  of  heaven  the  sacred  flowers 
that  bloom  on  your  scattered  graves. 

"  On  fame's  eternal  camping  ground 

Their  silent  tents  are  spread, 
And  glory  guards  with  solemn  round 

The  bivouac  of  the  dead." 

Nor  on  this  occasion  should  we  forget  the  living  who 
endured  or  dared  whatever  has  immortalized  the  dead  ; 
and  to-day  our  common  country  remembers  with  pride 
the  gallantry  and  patriotism  of  her  surviving^sons,  many 
of  whom  are  before  me,  and  I  ask  is  there  one  of  you  who. 
would  exchange  his  record  for  that  of  dead  Caesar?  Not 
one.  To  have  been  a  common  soldier  of  the  Union  is  to 
outrank  Csesar  wrapped  in  purple  robes  dyed  in  the  blood 
of  millions  slain  that  he  might 

"wade  through  slaughter  to  a  throne, 

And  shut  the  gates  of  mercy  on  mankind." 

There  is  little  left  in  this  world  which  the  humblest 
living  soldier  of  the  Union  can  desire  to  add  to  the  hon- 
ors of  his  name.  A  country,  aye  in  a  larger  sense  a  world, 
saved  for  humanitj^  by  the  triumph  and  preservation  of 
our  national  integrity  through  his  toils  and  suflerings. 


Remarks  by  H.  W.  Blair.  85 

He  is  in  no  unmeaning  sense,  "  one  of  the  army  of  the 
Lord."  What  more  can  he  ask  ?  What  more  can  he  re- 
ceive of  honor  at  our  hands  ? 

Give  him  when  maimed  and  stricken  in  your  service 
only  the  necessaries  of  life  and  he  will  not  trouble  you 
for  its  honors ;  that  certificate  of  honorable  discharge 
from  the  army  of  the  Ufiion,  proves  him  to  be  the  peer  of 
any  of  his  countrymen.  '  History  will  take  care  of  him. 

And  in  closing,  allow  me  to  say  that  I  believe  municipal 
patriotism  can  manifest  itself  in  no  more  commendable 
form  than  in  the  erection  of  appropriate  monuments  to 
commemorate  the  self-sacrificing  heroism  of  the  soldiers 
of  the  Union. 

By  a  recent  act  of  the  Legislature  every  town  and  city 
in  New  Hampshire  is  authorized  to  raise  and  expend  ■ 
money  for  that  noble  object,  and  I  believe  that  in  no  other 
way  can  we  perpetuate  such  an  impressive  sense  of  the 
inestimable  worth  of  our  free  institutions  and  of  this 
glorious  Union  by  whose  preservation  alone  they  can  be 
transmitted  and  made  perpetual,  as  by  ennobling  our 
landscape  with  monuments  whose  silent,  chaste  yet  ^  ele- 
gant columns  and  simple  epitaphs,  shall  forever  repeat  to 
the  long  succession  of  happy  and  grateful  generations  to 
come,  that  fii'st  great  lesson  of  patriotic  devotion,  "  'Tis 
sweet,  oh  'tis  sweet  for  our  country  to  die." 

By  doing  honor  to  the  soldier  we  honor  and  foster  the 
cause  for  which  he  lays  down  his  life.  No  country  can 
or  should  long  continue  to  exist  when  its  obligations  are 
forgotten  to  those  who  .preserved  its  life  by  the  sacrifice 
of  their  own,  to  its  disabled,  and  to  the  widows  and  or- 
phans of  its  slain  or  when  it  ceases  to  cherish  in  grateful 
remembrance,  the  gallant  deeds  which  constitute  its  na- 
tional renown. 

America  will  not  fail  to  honor  those  who  in  triumph  or 
defeat  have  periled  all  in  her  defence,  for  in  the  language 


86  Centennial  Celebration. 

of  the  Great  Athenian,  •'  What  was  the  part  of  gallant 
men  they  all  performed  ?  Their  success  was  such  as  the 
Supreme  Ruler  of  the  universe  dispensed  to  each." 

All  the  "  soldiers  of  the  Union  "  have  been  its  bulwark 
in  the  past,  so  under  God  are  they  its  future  hope.  One 
century  hence,  —  when  every  breathing  thing  that  now 
moves  in  the  light  of  heaven ;  when  you,  honored  sir ; 
when  the  infant  that  prattles  on  its  mother's  arms  uncon- 
scious of  the  profound  solemnities  we  celebrate ;  when 
you  venerable  sires  and  matrons,  who  have  gathered  once 
more  within  the  corporate  precincts  of  our  beloved  old 
native  town,  to  renew  by  sacred  communings  with  the  un- 
changing forms  of  nature,  the  tender  associations  that 
link  you  rather  with  the  dead  than  with  the  living  ;  when 
all,  all  of  us  shall  have  moldered  away  and  our  names 
shall  have  been  lost  in  the  wide  gulf  of  oblivion,  or  shall 
linger  only  in  the  faint  voices  of  tradition,  —  may  the 
sons  of  Camp  ton  at  her  next  centennial  celebration  be 
able  to  transmit,  as  thank  God  we  now  bequeath  it  to 
them,  untarnished  the  honor  of  her  "  soldiers  of  the  Un- 
ion." 


LETTER  FROM  REV.  DR.  STONE. 


Concord,  Sei^t.  11,  1867. 

Mr.  Bartlett — Dear  Sir :  I  received  a  letter  yester- 
day, dated  at'Campton  Village,  inviting  me  to  attend  your 
Centennial  Celebration  on  the  12th.  Please  give  my  com- 
pliments to  the  Committee  and  say  to  them  that  it  would 
give  me  great  pleasure  to  be  present  on  that  occasion,  but 
the  state  of  my  health  will  not  permit. 

I  am  a  member  of  the  Council  which  convenes  here  to- 
morrow to  install  a  pastor  over  the  First  Church,  but  I 


Letters  from  Rev.  Messrs.  Stone  and  Willey.        87 

should  be  much  more  interested  in  going  to  Campton,  if 
I  were  able.  My  former  residence  among  you  as  pastor, 
and  my  acquaintance  with  your  people  and  history,  give 
me  a  deep  interest  in  your  affairs  and  welfare.  May  the 
Lord  be  with  you  and  make  the  occasion  a  blessing  to  all 
present,  and  to  all  future  generations,  at  least  for  the  next 
hundred  years. 

Grateful  to  the  Committee  for  their  kind  invitation, 
Yours,  respectfully, 

Benjamin  P.  Stone. 


LETTER  FROM  REV.  AUSTIN  WILLEY. 


Stockton,  California,  April,  1868. 
To  the  Committee  of  Arrangements  for  the  Centennial  Cele- 
bration at  Campton,  New  Hampshire : 
Gentlemen  :  It  was  with  great  pleasure  that  I  learned 
of  the  design  to  celebrate  the  Centennial  of  the  settle- 
ment of  my  honored  native  town.  It  was  most  appro- 
priate. The  town  was  worthy  of  such  commemoration 
and  all  its  true  sons,  wherever  scattered  on  the  earth, 
will  gladly  respond  to  its  honors.  Nothing  but  impossi- 
bilities prevents  my  joining,  personally,  in  that  grand 
occasion.  It  is  doubtful  if  another  town  can  be  found  in 
New  England  of  equal  population  and  natural  advantages, 
which  has  contributed  more  to  human  good.  Its  early 
history  was  marked  by  substantial  intelligence,  sound 
morality  and  religious  principle,  and  its  sons  and  daugh- 
ters have  gone  all  over  the  continent  diffusing  these  in- 
fluences of  their  native  town.  And  whether  on  the  shore 
of  either  ocean,  among  the  Rocky  Mountains  or  upon  the 


88  Centennial  Celebration. 

praries  of  the  West,  the  name  of  their  dear  native  town 
awakens  emotions  which  no  time  or  distance  can  efface. 

There  was  the  old  home  which  meant  home.  There  tlie 
the  scenes  of  childhood  and  associations  of  youth  ;  there 
the  meeting  house  and  school  house  ;  there  tlie  grand  and 
beautiful  in  nature,  commingled  as  almost  nowhere  else  ; 
and  there  the  graves  of  departed  generations,  watered 
with  tears  of  affection ;  there  sleep  the  pious  dead,  an- 
gels perhaps  still  watching  their  dust.  How  can  we  re- 
member Campton  without  grateful  affection,  and  thanking 
those  who  proposed  and  carried  through  this  celebration. 

But  if  that  town  is  to  be  what  it  has  been,  the  causes 
of  its  past  distinction  must  be  kept  in  vigorous  activity. 
There  certainly  were  an  intelligent  christian  ministry, 
substantial  books,  good  schools,  little  liquor  traffic, 
close  industry  and  sound  religion.  Let  these  control  the 
taste  and  habits,  and  give  character  to  the  town,  and  its 
honor  will  still  advance,  while  the  good  flowing  from  it 
to  the  world  will  be  as  living  as  the  streams  from  its 
mountain  sides. 

Let  me  propose  this  sentiment : 

Campton  :  May  its  second  Centennial  Celebration  prer 
sent  as  pleasing  a  record  as  its  first. 

A.    WiLLEY. 


LETTER  FEOM  E.  C.  BAKER. 


26  Barristers  Hall,  Boston,  Sept.  P,  1867. 
Charles  Cutter,  Esq — 

Dear  Sir :  Your  letter  of  August  first,  inviting  me  to 
be  present  at  a  Centennial  Celebration  of  the  town  of 
Campton,  on  September  12th,  was  received  in  due  course 


Letter  from  E.  C.  Baker,  Esq.  89 

of  mail.  I  have  delayed  an  answer,  hoping  to  be  able  to 
respond  in  person  at  the  time  designated. 

One  hundi'ed  years  of  corporate  life,  fairly  gives  your 
town  the  right  to  call  herself,  and  to  be  known  as  the 
old  toivn  of  Campton.  Not  only  this  but  her  still  earlier 
history,  her  name  indicating  it, — being  as  she  was,  if  I 
am  not  mistaken,  one  of  the  earliest  camping  grounds  of 
those  noble  men,  whose  efforts,  labors  and  sufferings,  as 
pioneers  in  the  settlement  of  this  "Western  continent,  con- 
tributed so  mucTi  to  the  development  of  the  Anglo  Saxon 
race  and  the  establishment  of  a  government,  deriving  all 
its  powers  from  the  governed, — gives  you  a  still  further 
right,  with  proud  satisfaction,  to  hail  this  anniversary 
day. 

One  hundred  years !  What  mighty  changes  have 
marked  their  flight !  Who  of  that  day,  if  now  they  could 
revisit  you,  would  find  an3^thing  which  they  then  saw,  or 
as  they  lay  and  slept  in  their  rude  camp,  ever  dreamed  of 
seeing  in  the  sweet  valley  or  on  the  fertile  hills  of  their 
quiet  home  ?  Who  of  them  all  foresaw  or  prophesied 
then  the  mighty  Empire  which  they,  and  such  as  they, 
were  building?  Aye!  "they  builded  wiser  than  they 
knew !"  Deep  and  strong  as  the  eternal  granite  of  these 
hills,  they  laid  the  foundations,  and  in  toil,  in  hardship, 
in  privation,  in  weakness  which  became  strength,  they 
builded  thereon.  Strong,  rugged,  manly  minds  and  na- 
tures, came  as  fruits  of  their  labors,  and  to-day  we  have 
entered  into  their  labors.  It  has  been  well  said  of  our 
State  of  New  Hampshire,  that  its  principal  products  are 
ice,  granite,  and  men  I 

The  men  of  Campton  will  bear  the  examination  of  his- 
tory, without  detriment  in  the  comparison.  It  is  well, 
therefore,  that  you  celebrate  your  anniversary  day.  In 
our  pride  of  the  past ;  in  our  reverence  for  the  fathers, 
let  us  not  forget  their  hopes,  their  objects,  the  puri)osc8 


90  Centennial  Celebration. 

of  their  struggles,  the  end  of  their  works.  The  noblest 
monument  we  can  raise  to  their  memory  is  not  of  monu- 
mental stone  or  sculptured  brass,  but  in  institutions  of 
government,  which  shall  show  to  all  time  to  come  that  we 
appreciate  their  designs,  and  guiding  ourselves  by  their 
motives  and  teachings  and  following  their  example,  will 
hereafter,  as  in  the  past,  "  march  under  the  old  flag,  and 
keep  step  to  the  music  of  the  Union !" 

One  hundred  years !  how  quickly  fled !  and  yet  how 
great  the  results !  Then  a  few  weak  colonists ;  now  a 
mighty  nation.  Then  a  scattered  population  skirting  the 
Atlantic  coast.  Now  the  hum  of  national  industry  min- 
gles its  song  with  the  roar  of  the  Atlantic  sea,  and  the 
peaceful  music  of  the  Pacific  wave.  Now  from  the  cold 
regions  of  the  North  to  the  fragrant  Savannahs  of  the 
sunny  South  the  rivers  run,  bearing  upon  their  broad 
bosoms  the  wealth  of  the  productions  of  thirty  millions 
of  free,  happy,  prosperous  and  united  people. 

One  hundred  years  !  Who  can  measure  to-day  the  hun- 
dred years  to  come  ?  Who  can  cast  their  horoscope  ? 
Are  we  in  our  day  building  as  wisely  and  as  well,  as  our 
fathers  ?  Then,  indeed,  we  may  in  this  hour  of  our  re- 
joicing, celebrate  the  past,  and  with  confident  hope  look 
forward  to  the  future. 

Regretting  that  unavoidable  circumstances  will  prevent 
me  from  enjoying  with  you  the  good  time  you  will  have, 
I  beg  to  send  you  as  a  sentiment : 

"  As  we  of  1867  say  to  those  of  1767,   so  may  they  of 
1967  say  of  us,  worthy  sons  of  noble  sires." 
I  have  the  honor  to  be. 

Very  truly,  your  obedient  servant, 

Elihd  C.  Baker. 


Letter  from  B.  Frank  Palmer,  LL.D.  91 

LETTER  FROM  B.  FRANK  PALMER,  LL.  D. 


Philadelphia,  September  9,  1867. 

My  Dear  Sir  :  I  had  the  honor  to  receive  your  kind 
invitation  to  attend  the  first  Centennial  Celebration  of  the 
town  of  Campton,  and  to  read  a  poem  on  the  occasion. 
The  great  pressure  of  my  business  engagements  prevented 
me  from  arriving  at  a  decision,  as  I  hoped  to  be  able  to 
accept  the  esteemed  invitation,  and  must  now  be  my 
apology  for  this  late  reply. 

To  revisit  the  home  of  my  childhood  on  such  an  occa- 
sion,— which  cannot  be  repeated, in  one  day, — to  mingle 
with  my  once  young  friends  and  kindred  at  our  old  gate 
way,  and  listen  to  the  voices  of  the  most  honored  among 
those  who  were  my  "  birds  of  a  feather,"  friends  of  my 
youth ;  friends  of  my  e\'il  days ;  friends  in  those  light- 
winged  hours,  when  the  fire  of  aspiration  flashed,  to  light 
the  entrance  of  the  labjrrinth  through  whose  devious  ways 
my  feet  must  pass  among  the  realities  of  opening  life — to 
recount  with  them  there  some  of  the  earlier  joys  and  later 
realities  of  active  life,  and  earnest  endeavors  to  mark  the 
advancement,  almost  fabulous,  of  your  now  noted  and 
beautiful  town,  and  contribute,  however  little  I  might  be 
able,  to  the  interest  of  the  immortal  hour  which  the  re- 
turning rounds  of  centuries  will  bear  along  the  ages, 
would  afford  me  sweet  and  lasting  joy.  But  the  duties  of 
the  day,  its  claims  upon  me,  aye,  its  promised  joys  at  my 
happy  home  in  the  great  city  of  my  adoption,  constrain 
me  to  forego  the  pleasure  that  such  a  reunion  would  af- 
ford. 

I  cannot,  however,  permit  the  great  occasion  to  pass 
without  congratulating  you,  citizens  of  Campton,  friends 
and  kindred,  one   and  all,  upon  the  happy  auspices  of 


93  Centennial  Celebration. 

your  grand  and  numerous  assemblage,  to  interchange 
salutations  with  the  living  and  honor  the  memory  of  the 
departed.  Many  of  those  who  have  gone  before,  now 
sleep  in  the  beautiful  cemetery  just  before  you. 

I  cannot  say  that  they  do  not  walk,  unseen,  among  you, 
sharing  your  bliss  and  receiving  the  homage  that  j^our 
full  hearts  offer  at  this  fitting  shrine !  Be  it  so,  their 
joys  cannot  be  the  less ;  yours  may  be  greater.  Be  it 
otherwise,  we  shall  all  follow  them  ere  long,  to  meet  again 
I  trust,  on  that  still  fairer  shore,  where  there  will  be  but 
one  great  celebration,  and  the  reunion  will  be  indestructi- 
ble. 

I  send  you  my  warm  greeting  with  earnest  hopes  and 
prayers  for  the  present  happiness  and  future  prosperity 
of  your  beautiful  town  and  all  its  people. 

An  hundred  years !  Others  will  tell  the  tale  of  its 
marvelous  changes,  recounting  the  years  of  toil  and  pri- 
vation through  which  our  ancestors  fashioned  destiny. 
They  "  spun  for  us  the  web  of  fate"  !  By  long  and  per- 
ilous Winter  marches,  they  pierced  the  unbroken  wilder- 
ness !  By  unremitting  toil  they  opened  the  primeval  for- 
ests and  crossed  the  "  stubborn  glebe."  In  the  morning 
of  their  lives,  at  the  dawn  of  your  town's  first  rising  from 
the  night  of  ages,  they  sowed  broadcast,  the  seed  which 
yields  their  children's  children  harvests  richer  than 
earth's  fair  bosom  ofiers  in  annual  benedictions — harvests 
of  intelligence,  virtue  and  peace.  These  worthy  Puritans, 
with  living  faith  in  the  living  God,  sought  more  thaii 
bread, — by  which  alone  man  cannot  live, — and  what  they 
sought  they  found.  They  put  the  gospel  sickle  in,  they 
bound  the  early  sheaves  of  christian  love,  and  bore  them 
to  that  garner  into  which  themselves  have  since  been 
gathered. 

Would  that  I  were  worthy  to  recite  their  eulogy.  But 
if  no  man  shall  do  it  fittingly,  it  still  is  done !    The  ver- 


Letter  from  S.  D.  Baker,  Esq.  93 

dant  vales  and  waving  hill-sides  are  radiant  and  vocal 
with  their  praise.  "  Who  seeks  their  monument  should 
look  around" !  Their  lives  were  solely  given  to  useful 
toil,  and  where  they  finished  their  labors,  the  valleys  now 
blossom — 

"  Fair  as  the  garden  of  the  Lord." 

I  am  happy  to  claim  my  lineage  from  such  a  line,  and 
wish,  again,  that  I  could  meet  their  children  in  person,  as 
I  shall  in  thought,  on  the  great  occasion  that  will  mark 
the  auspicious  closing  of  a  century  !  May  the  just-dawn- 
ing century  bring  more  of  the  same  true  honor  to  our 
fathers'  children  and  our  own,  and  may  all  the  sons  of 
toil  learn  from  their  high  example — 

"  That  eelf-dependent-power  can  time  defy, 
As  rocks  resist  the  billows  and  the  sky  "I 

With  great  regard,   yours   trulj^ 

B.  Frank  Palmer. 
Chables  Cuttek,  Esq.,  Campton,  S.  H. 


LETTER  FROM  S.  D.  BAKER,  Esq. 


Boar's  Head,  Hampton,  N.  H.,  Sept.  10,  1867. 

Gentlemen  :  I  regret  exceedingly  that  I  am  compell- 
ed to  decline  j^our  invitation  to  be  present  at  the  Centen- 
nial Celebration  of  my  n.itive  town.  The  nature  of  niy 
present  engagements  and  the  distance  from  home,  com- 
bine to  render  my  uniting  with  the  sons  and  daughters  of 
old  Campton  on  this  occasion,  an  impossible  thing. 

The  opportunity  thus  afforded  for  the  gathering  togeth- 
er of  the  great  family  around  the  ancient  hearths  and  the 
homes  of  childhood,  cannot  be  prized   too  highly  ;  and  I 


94  Centennial  Celebration. 

feel  assured  that  nothing  but  the  most  urgent  necessities 
will  occasion  the  absence  of  any  one,  who  claims  the  hills 
and  valleys  of  Campton  as  his  by  birthright. 

I  am  well  aware  that  the  loss  in  this  instance  is  irre- 
parable and  all  my  own,  for  the  pleasure  I  should  derive 
from  being  present  would  be  far  greater  than  any  I  could 
confer.  Knowing  as  I  do,  that  among  the  thousands  who 
will  avail  themselves  of  your  invitation,  there  will  be 
many  whose  names,  not  unknown  to  fame,  we  delight  to 
honor,  it  would  afford  me  more  gratification  than  words 
can  express,  to  meet  them  on  the  spot  "dearer  than  all 
on  earth  beside,"  and  together  with  them,  receive  the 
greetings  of  those  who  have  never  wandered  from  their 
first  and  only  home,  but  who,  through  all  life's  vicissi- 
tudes, have  clung  to  the  old  homestead  as  to  a  holy  thing. 
But  all  this  gratification  I  must  forego  and  console  my- 
self as  best  I  may  for  my  disappointment.  Trusting  that 
the  contemplated  re-union  of  the  sons  and  daughters  of 
Campton  will  be  glorious  and  heart-refreshing  to  both 
residents  and  weary  wanderers,  allow  me  to  discharge  a 
small  duty  by  offering  the  following  sentiment : 

OuB  Native  Town  :  Greener  than  her  valleys  and  hill- 
tops in  Spring-time,  will  her  memory  ever  be  in  the  hearts 
of  her  absent  children. 

Yours  truly, 

Samuel  D.  Baker. 


A  Centennial   Waif.  95 


A   CENTENNIAL  WAIF, 
ON  THE  PEMIGEWASSET  EIVER,  SEPTEMBER  12,  1867. 


BY  B.   FRANK  PALMi^l,   LL.   D. 


[Written  by  request  of  the  Committee  of  Arrangements  of  the  first  Cen- 
tennial Celebi'ation  of  the  Town  of  Campton,  N.  H  ] 


0  River  fair !  here,  wandering  long  ago, 

1  listened  to  thy  murmurs,  wild  and  low, 
When  loitering  on  the  bank,  with  shining  wish. 
To  find  Pactolian  sand,  or  golden  fish. 

And  forty  seasons  since,  in  infant  pride. 

Talked  with  thy  bubbling  shoals,  on  Thornton'  side  ; 

Where  pearly  ripples  seize  the  orient  beam. 

And  mystic  forms  in  mirror's  beauty  gleam. 

A  sailor  of  three  seasons,  on  time's  tide, 

With  whaleman's  chances  for  a  devious  ride, 

Embarked,  to  pass  the  eddying  ferry  o'er. 

And  gained  this  sheltering,  wood-invested  shore. 

A  balking  bullock  is  a  sorry  yawl 

For  stripling  nerve  to  scull  above  a  fall ; 

A  saddled  centaur  might  as  well  be  manned 

By  infant  mermaid  round  a  coral  strand. 

The  dashing  wherry  drank  the  sparkling  spray, 

While  trusty  pilot  walked  the  watery  way ! 

Thus  steering  o'er  the  wild,  uncharted  course, 

I  now  survey  on  wing  of  reinless  horse. 

My  conscious  life-boat  hailed  the  impending  strife, 

And  "  walked  the  waters  like  a  thing  of  life." 

Portentous  fathoms  strode  with  prowess  grand. 

Till  surging  stream  and  beetling  bank  were  spanned. 

And  now,  as  then^  I  may  not  stop,  to  choose 


06  CentennicU  Celebration. 

To  ride  or  run ;  to  row  or  rein  ;  to  use 
Or  bow  or  spur ;  to  paddle,  scull,  or  sail ; 
To  pause,  in  mid-stream  effort,  is  to  fail. 
Constrained,  I  float  on  thro'  aerial  tide, 
To  note  the  ethereal  forms  that  o'er  thee  glide  ; 
And,  fly  or  fall,  the  goddess  I  will  thank. 
Who  wings  me  coyly  o'er  the  cradled  bank. 
For  here  I  earliest  saw  the  star-gemmed  morn 
Descend,  with  Ceres,  o'er  her  wa\-es  of  corn  ; 
To  tinge  the  dew-drop  with  prismatic  light. 
And  lift  the  azure  robe  from  blushing  night. 
The  dawning  song  life's  lullaby  awhile, 
My  infant  joys  to  crown,  and  woes  beguile ; 
Till  Fancy  fringed  with  flowers'  sunny  way. 
And  hope  half  blossomed  'neath  the  genial  ray. 
In  Youth's,  dreams  beheed  the  laurel  wave, 
Whereat  a  smile  of  promise  gave  ; 
And  here  above  thy  velvet- vestured  shore. 
The  coy  nymph  shall  weave  the  laurel  evermore. 
The  mystic  muse  shall  steal  thy  banks  along, 
Inspiring  here  some  son  of  lofty  song  ; 
And  genii,  from  the  old  Parnassian  fount, 
Shall  linger  round  Franconia's  mantled  mount ; 
To  quaff  the  bliss  I  see,  and  they  may  sing. 
Who  tune  their  harps  by  the  castalian  spring  T 
But  none,  beneath  the  inspiring  goddess'  wand. 
Shall  feel  more  joy  to  see  thy  blooms  expand. 
Here  plucked  the  evergreen  when  hope  was  young, 
And  listened,  raptured,  to  thy  sylvan  tongue ; 
Here  Youth  shall  garland  Time's  centennial  urn 
With  woven  immortal,  and  joy  eterne. 
And  tf  the  breezy  vale  shall  bear  along 
Through  echoing  groves,  to  live  in  infant  song, 
The  strain  that  lingers  in  each  burning  thought. 
Not  all  in  vain  have  I  mv  tribute  wrought. 


A  Centennial  Waif.  95 


A  WAIF  ON  THE  PEMIGEWASSET  RIVER. 


BY  B.   FRANK.   PALMER,   LL.   D. 


[Written  by  request  of  the  Committee  of  Arrangements  of  the  first  Cen- 
tennial Celebration  of  the  Town  of  Campton,  N.  H-] 


0  River  fair  !  here,  wandering  long  ago, 

1  listened  to  thy  murmurs,  wild  and  low, 
When  loitering  on  the  bank,  with  shining  wish, 
To  find  Paetolian  sand,  or  golden  fish. 

And  forty  seasons  since,  in  infant  pride. 
Talked  with  th^'  babbling  shoals,  on  Thornton  side ; 
Where  pearly  ripples  seize  the  orient  beam, 
And  mj'^stic  forms  in  mirror'd  beauty  gleam. 

A  sailor  of  three  seasons,  on  time's  tide, 
With  whaleman's  chances  for  a  devious  ride, 
Embarked,  to  pass  the  eddying  ferry  o'er. 
And  gain  this  sheltering,  wood-invested  shore. 
The  dashing  wherry*  drank  the  sparkling  spray, 
While  trusty  pilot  walked  the  watery  way — 
Thus  steering  o'er  the  wild,  uncharted  course, 
I  now  survey  on  wing  of  reinless  horse. 
My  conscious  life-boat  hail'd  th'  impending  strife, 
And  "  walked  the  waters  like  a  thing  of  life ;" 
Portentous  fathoms  strode  with  prowess  grand. 
Till  surging  stream  and  beetling  bank  were  spanned. 
And  now,  as  then,  I  may  not  stop,  to  choose 
To  ride  or  run  ;  to  row  or  rein  ;  to  use 
Or  bow  or  spur ;  to  paddle,  scull,  or  sail ; 
To  pause,  in  mid-stream  effort,  is  to  fail. 
Constrained,  I  float  on  the  aerial  tide, 

*A  young  ox. 


96  Centennial  Celebration. 

To  note  th'  ethereal  forms  that  o'er  thee  glide ; 
And,  fly  or  fall,  the  goddess  I  will  thank, 
Who  wings  me  coyly  o'er  the  cradled  bank. 
For  here  I  earliest  saw  the  star-gemmed  morn 
Descend,  with  Ceres,  o'er  her  waves  of  corn  ; 
To  tinge  the  dew-drop  with  prismatic  light, 
And  lift  the  azure  robe  from  blushing  night. 
The  dawning  sang  life's  lullaby  awhile, 
My  infant  joj'S  to  crown,  and  woes  beguile  ; 
Till  Fancy  fringed  with  flowers  youth's  sunny  way, 
And  hope  half  blossomed  'neath  the  genial  ray. 
In  boyhood-dreams  beheld  the  laurel  wave. 
When  the  coy  nj'mph,  a  smile  of  promise  gave ; 
And  here,  above  thy  velvetrvestured  shore. 
The  nymph  shall  weave  the  laurel  evermore. 
The  mystic  muse  shall  steal  thy  banks  along. 
Inspiring  here  some  son  of  lofty  song ; 
And  genii,  from  the  old  Parnassian  fount, 
Shall  linger  round  Franconia's  mantled  mount ; 
To  quaff  the  bliss  I  see,  and  thej^  may  sing, 
Who  tune  their  harps  by  the  Castalian  spring  ; 
But  none,  beneath  th'  inspiring  goddess'  wand. 
Shall  feel  more  joy  to  see  thy  blooms  expand. 
Here  plucked  the  evergreen  when  hope  was  young, 
And  listened,  raptured,  to  thy  sylvan  tongue  ; 
Here  youth  shall  garland  Time's  centennial  urn 
With  palm  and  laurel  leaf,  in  joy  eteme. 
And  if  the  breezy  vale  shall  bear  along 
Through  echoing  groves,  to  live  in  infant  song, 
The  strain  that  lingers  in  each  burning  thought, 
Not  all  in  vain  have  I  my  tribute  wrought. 
A  heart-beat,  pulsing  in  the  tide  of  time, 
Inspires  the  verse  I  bring  (in  faulty  rhjrme) 
The  century-bloom  will  close  on  morning's  verge, 
And  fold  the  record  in  the  cycle's  surge. 


Centennial  Waif.  97 

And  thus  upon  the  ebbing  wave  I  trace 
An  imaged  thought,  which  time  may  not  efface  ; 
And  FAITH  (not  fancy)  here  with  hope  shall  stray, 
To  view  the  nymph  that  bears  the  bloom  away. 
She  will  return  !     He  who  the  century  gave, 
Will  send  the  blossom  round  on  refluent  wave  ; 
And  then  (from  cruel  critics  meanwhile  safe) 
Perchance  some  friend  may  catch  my  floating  waif. 
The  patient  plant  that  blooms  so  fair  to-day, 
Has  waited  ages  for  its  tints  so  gay  ; 

0  man,  be  patient !  wait  the  blooming  hour. 
Snap  not  the  bud,  to  lose  th'  immortal  flower  ! 

And  now  I  come,  from  wanderings  wide  and  long, 
To  cast  upon  thy  wave  my  waif  of  song ; 
Receive  me  kindly,  as  a  child  of  thine. 
Returned  to  joy  at  boyhood's  sacred  shrine. 
No  chaplet  from  th'  enchanted  grove  I  bring — 
A  little  wild-flower  grown  by  Friendship's  spring ; 
Reset  in  genial  soil,  'twill  bloom  again. 
As  once  upon  your  fair,  expanding  plain. 
Transplanted  in  the  dews  of  early  morn, 
The  hovering  cloud  has  watered  rose  and  thorn — 
The  bloom  alone  I  bring,  and  fondly  yield — 

1  plant  no  thorn  within  th'  emblooming  field.  * 
Here  thought,  aspiring  o'er  yon  summits  gray, 
From  visual  forms  began  the  trackless  way  ; 
And  leaving  soon,  too  soon,  the  rural  vale, 

To  launch  on  youth's  wild  wave — to  strand  or  sail, 
I  bade  adieu  to  sweetest  pastoral  charms. 
Where  conscious  beauty  blossoms  in  thine  arms  ; 
But  now,  returned,  I  greet  with  manly  pride 
Each  old  familiar  spot  I've  joyed  beside  ; 
Here,  respite  from  life's  jar  and  jargon  find. 
And  all  the  sheaves  of  olden  friendship  bind. 


98  Centennial  Celebration. 

The  hills  are  vocal,  and  the  circling  sphere 
In  wavy  cadence  charms  the  listening  ear ; 
From  mast-head  life  I  greet  the  natal  bound, 
And  hail  the  joys  of  the  centennial  round. 
A  centurj'^  past !  what  visions  spring  to  view ; 
What  we  call  old  our  fathers  hailed  as  new ; 
"What  they  called  old  their  fathers  ne'er  had  seen — 
Our  sons  will  say  the  same  of  us,  I  ween. 
The  seventeen  hundredth  year  and  sixty-seven, 
Saw,  gliding  'neath  the  smiling  crest  of  heaven, 
Thy  mingling  rivers,  winding  through  the  way 
Where  the  dread  Indian  ruled  with  savage  sway. 
The  placid  Beebe's  current  stole  along,* 
Its  music  blending  with  the  savage  song  ; 
While  o'er  the  valley  spread,  like  waving  sea, 
Wood  stretched  to  wood,  a  vast  immensity. 
Within  the  fastnesses  and  gorges  dark, 
No  click  of  flint  had  given  the  tinder  spark  ; 
No  axe  had  sounded  from  the  old  elm's  trunk  ; 
No  flash  of  firelock  lit  the  sluggish  punk  ; 
Bleak,  bald,  and  awful  rose  the  giant  forms 
Of  granite  mountains,  battling  with  the  storms  ! 
But  hark  !  the  mountains  hail  the  listening  sea — 
The  wave,  responsive,  greeting  sends  to  thee  ! 
Though  "  westward"  empire  takes  its  onward  way. 
As  westward  speeds  the  light  of  circling  day. 
Our  fathers  trusted  God's  descending  streams, 
His  forests  stretching  'neath  auroral  gleams  ; 
They  took  their  course  along  the  ice-paved  road. 
To  fashion  fate,  and  find  this  fair  abode. 
As  once  the  sons  of  Israel  found  their  waj', 
Led  by  a  pillar  of  the  cloud  by  day, 
Which,  changing  to  a  glorious  guiding  light, 

♦Note.  Beebe's  river  is  a  smaller  stream.  Its  confluence  with  the 
Pemigewasset  is  in  Campton,  if  I  mistake  not.  The  narne  may  have  been 
changed,  or  my  spelling  may  not  be  correct. 


Centennial  Waif.  99 

A  pillar'd  fire  led  on  by  starless  night ; 

As  trustful  march'd  they  o'er  the  Red  Sea  bank, 

Nor  asked  if  any  in  the  tide  e'er  sank  ; 

Our  fathers  crossed  a  sea  of  ice,  well  shod, 

With  Christian  sandals  ;  faith  and  trust  in  God — 

They  to  the  plow  had  put  the  firm  right  hand, 

To  look  not  back  till  gained  this  chosen  land ; 

Through  wintry  wilds  urging  their  way  they  trode, 

Or  on  the  thong-lashed,  snow-shoe  sledges  rode. 

Unbroken  woods,  red  faces,  hail  and  snow  ; 

Mad  rivers,  ice-bound  rills,  (that  ceased  to  flow ;) 

Rapacious  beasts,  whose  predatory  rounds 

Recrossed  the  way  that  skirts  the  valley's  bounds  ; 

Descending  blasts,  that  swept  the  forests  through ; 

No  vegetation  sprang  to  cheer  the  view  ; 

Ice,  ice  below,  and  ice-girt  caves  around. 

Where  grizzly  wolf  and  surly  bear  were  found ; 

On  ev'ry  side  a  cheerless  view  was  given. 

And  clouds  portentous  hid  the  light  of  heaven ! 

Behold  the  friends  that  met  them  at  the  gate ; 

Behold  the  scenes  through  which  they  fashioned  fate ; 

Of  later  day  the  mountaineer  will  tell 

How  the  gaunt,  hungry  wolf  stood  sentinel, 

Beside  the  hut  that  held  his  all  of  life — 

His  cradled  children  and  his  weeping  wife. 

While  the  wild  Indian  from  the  thatch  would  stoop 

And  thrill  the  forest  with  his  hideous  whoop ! 

The  woodman,  seated,  once  upon  the  shore 

Yon  mountain  towers  in  lofty  grandeur  o'er. 

With  scanty  dinner  spread  on  frosty  pan. 

Beheld  that  old  colossal  granite  man  ! 

Eternal  Rockface  !  seated  mountain  high. 

In  solemn  majesty  'twixt  earth  and  sky. 

The  rock-ribbed  fastness  holding  in  his  hand  ; 

The  lightnings  hurling  from  his  gleaming  wand ; 


100  Centennial   Celebration. 

In  granite  might  he  stormward  sets  his  face, 
"When  the  tornado  rocks  his  ancient  place ; 
Divides  the  whirlwind  with  his  locks  of  gray, 
And  bathes  his  forehead  at  the  fount  of  day ! 
Arise,  to  touch  the  lofty  theme,  O  muse  ! 
On  stronger  wing  ascend  to  loftier  views  ; 
Th'  eternal  hills  centennial  homage  bring — 
The  valley  blooms — a  hundred  seasons  sing. 
An  hundred  years  !     O  that  same  sleeping  seer 
Might  wake  to  lead  centennially  here  ! 
Ye  ancient  bards  who  smote  the  conscious  lyre — 
With  breathing  strain  the  silent  string  inspire  ! 
The  watchful  shepherds  saw  the  joyful  flight 
Above  Judea's  plains,  that  radiant  night 
"When  men,  adoring,  heard  the  new-made  hymn 
Sung,  to  soft  harps,  by  shining  seraphim  ; 
Then  choral  stars  found  jubilant  employ. 
And  hill  to  vale  proclaimed  th'  extatic  joy, 
"Which  rolls,  melodious,  o'er  these  natal  plains. 
And  claims  the  tribute  of  your  highest  strains. 
Here  Faith,  while  circling  years  and  cycles  fade, 
"Will  stand  in  all  the  bloom  of  youth  arrayed  ; 
To  cheer  the  heart  whose  faint  devotion  springs, 
As  joy  centennial  through  the  ages  rings. 
And  may  each  listening  mortal,  not  in  vain. 
Scale  yon  gray  dome  to  catch  th'  inspiring  strain  ; 
As  century  mile-stones  mark  the  flying  round, 
And  reedy  groves  prolong  the  joyful  sound. 
Fair  Campton  !  not  as  I  beheld  of  yore — 
I  now  behold  the  visions  floating  o'er ; 
Not  wholly  thine  the  change — for,  since  that  day, 
From  boyhood's  eyes  the  mists  have  passed  away. 
Then  fays  and  fairies  round  the  mountain  walked. 
Ere  the  small  crib,  (with  smaller  knowledge  stocked) 
A  better  rampart  furnished,  of  defence — 


Centennial   Waif,  101 

Or  budding  wisdom  bade  th'  intruders  hence ! 
Thy  hills  then  rose  and  pierced  the  heavens  as  now, 
The  moon,  ascending,  lingered  on  thy  brow, 

0  Lafayette  !  while  glowing  Red  Hill's  crest, 
Dissolved  in  green  and  gold — O  vision  blest ! 
Then,  towering  Washington,  above  the  cloud 
His  lofty  forehead  reared  in  triumph  proud  ; 
Dim  distance  gave  a  charm  to  parting  day, 
As  night  closed  o'er  a  sea  of  turrets  gray  ; 
Thy  rivers  were  as  clear,  thy  woods  as  grand, 
(The  pine  and  cedar  kissed  by  zephyr  bland,) 
But  I,  a  simple  stripling,  only  knew 

Thy  mountains  hid  the  outer  world  from  view, 

Thy  hills  surveyed,  only  to  learn  the  rule 

For  easiest  scaling — on  the  way  to  school ! 

Sweet  vale !  I  own  th'  enchantment  of  the  scene, 

Where  meadows  wave  in  wealth  of  gold  and  green ; 

Where  forests  vocal. spread  in  vast  expanse, 

And  fleecy  clouds  around  the  mountain  dance ! 

Enchanting  nymph  !  with  trappings  of  a  bride, 

And  floral  cestus  gleaming  at  thy  side  ; 

The  lily  of  the  valley  veils  thy  charms, 

And  conscious  tendrils  clasp  thy  jewelled  arms. 

Dissolving  day  and  kindling  mom,  unite 

To  blend  their  beauties  in  ethereal  light ! 

Aurora,  from  the  loftiest  peak  of  dawn, 

Flings  blossoms  dew-gemmed  o'er  the  glittering  lawn ; 

Above  the  banks  the  elm  and  elder  spring. 

Where  meadow- warblers  plume  their  breasts  and  sing"; 

Or,  heavenward  rise  to  greet  the  earliest  beam, 

That  shines,  reflected,  in  thy  crystal  stream ! 

1  gaze  with  joy  on  the  translucent  wave. 
Where  modest  flower-de-luce  and  lily  lave ! 
Where  honey-suckles  blush  above  the  spring. 
And  birds  pause,  humming,  on  ethereal  wing. 


102  Centennial  Celebration. 

Where  corn-crown'd  hill-sides  rise,  on  either  hand, 

And  mellow  pumpkins  cover  all  the  land  ; 

The  grape  and  cherry  ripen  o'er  the  rill, 

Where  sings  the  jay,  or  moans  the  whippoorwill. 

Where  incense,  o'er  th'  emblooming  intervale, 

Fills  every  leaf,  and  spreads  on  every  gale  ; 

As  gentle  zephyr  glides,  at  eventide. 

On  balmy  wing  !  along  the  river-side  ; 

Where  fountains  fresher  than  Parnassian  rills. 

Give  sweeter  draughts  than  fabled  grove  distils  ; 

Inspiring  incense,  which  the  gods  might  pour 

From  golden  ewers,  the  laureled  landscape  o'er ; 

Where  laureate  bards  might  surfeit  as  they  sing. 

As  bees  their  freightage  bear  on  vocal  wing ! 

Where  shadowy  forms  float  o'er  the  waving  field, 

And  vine-clad  bowers  luxuriant  fruitage  yield  ; 

Where  hill-tops  roll  in  waves  of  ripening  grain, 

And  crimson  berries  cover  all  the  plain  ; 

The  vernal  maple  pom's  nectarean  draughts, 

And  all  the  air  delicious  sweetness  wafts  ; 

Where  blooming  clover  tufts  the  vestured  vale, 

And  golden  harvests  bid  the  farmer  hail ! 

With  sheaves  of  corn  the  terraced  banks  abound, 

And  rising  mounds  of  butternuts  are  found  ! 

The  farmer  now,  with  shining  scythe  in  hand, 

Goes  thoughtful  forth,  with  visage  bronzed  and  bland  ; 

To  take  the  serried  lines  of  wavering  grass. 

And  round  the  bastioned  field  in  triumph  pass  ! 

The  lad  now  drives  the  "  lowing  herd  "  away. 

And  hastes  to  shake  and  spread  the  new-mown  hay ; 

While  the  young  robin  tries  his  earliest  strain, 

As  Phoebus  wheels  his  chariot  up  the  plain  ; 

The  roving  kine  on  flowery  hill-tops  graze, 

Or  wander  through  the  wild,  entangled  maze  ; 

And  bleating  lambkins  range  the  rocky  pass, 


Centennial   Waif.  103 

To  crop  the  dewy  blossoms  ft'om  the  grass. 

The  lad,  returned,  takes  spreading-stick  in  hand, 

As  cautious  conjurers  lift  the  wizard  wand  ; 

Spreads  the  green  swarth  with  curvilinear  shake, 

Then  hastes  the  hill-side,  (not  the  hay)  to  rake. 

The  patient  ox  wheels  up  the  towering  sheaves, 

Where  twittering  swallows  line  the  sheltering  eaves  ; 

And  fingered  forks  unlade  the  banded  freight. 

O'er  topmost  beam,  where  sportive  ushers  wait. 

The  grass  all  spread — and  stowed  the  garnered  grain — 

The  lad  is  off  to  "  spread  "  (himself)  again  ; 

With  truant  comrades,  through  the  wood  he  strays 

To  stone  the  birds  and  squirrels  by  the  ways  ; 

Up  the  high  hili  he  wends  his  devious  course. 

Where  brooklets  babble  from  the  rocky  source  ; 

The  rock  he  tumbles  from  the  shelving  edge, 

W'ith  bound  concentric  sweeps  the  trembling  ledge ; 

He  bends  his  way  Avhere  blooming  clover  yields 

The  bee's  fresh  treasure,  o'er  the  balmy  fields. 

To  where  the  frantic  bob'link  tears  his  throat, 

And  mounts  the  skj'  to  raise  one  dreadful  note  ; 

Secures  the  truant's  seat,  or  laggard's  stool, 

B}^  wayward  wandering  from  the  way  to  school ! 

"  Again  you're  tardy — what  excuse  to-day"  ? 

"  I  had  to  do  the  chores,  and  spread  the  hay  ! 

"  I  ran  as  fast  as  ever  I  could  go  ; 

"  I  rather  guess  the  sun,  or — something's  slow  ! 

"  The  son  is  slow,  and  something  must  be  done, 

"  To  hurry  up  this  lagging,  truant  son; 

•'  The  offence  is  great — too  grave  for  hazel-sprout — 

"  Sit  with  the  girls  !  until  the  boys  go  out." 

A  sorry  sentence — shocking  ev'ry  sense, 

And  baffling  all  his  lore  of  mood  and  tense  ; 

The  neuter  verb,  "  to  sit,"  is  active  found — 

The  mood,  indicative — of  giggling  round  ! 


^"^  Centennial  Celebration. 

The  facts  and  Murray  don't  agree,  and  hence 
He  thinks  the  perfect  is  th'  imperfect  tense. 

The  milkmaid,  tripping  at  the  early  dawn, 

With  well-filled  pail  across  the  dewy  lawn, 

Blithe  as  the  robin  pours  the  morning  strain, 

Where  echoing  groves  repeat  the  old  refrain. 

Anon,  she  turns  the  bright,  unfreighted  pail, 

And  tells  impatient  ears  the  nursery  tale  ; 

The  burnished  pewter  glistens  in  its  place, 

Each  old  familiar  mug  has  smiling  face. 

The  morning  board  a  settle  now  becomes. 

And  where  it  stood  the  whizzing  flax-wheel  hums. 

The  distaff  turns,  like  Galileo's  world, 

As  from  its  rim  the  flaxen  fibres  twirled. 

Like  Franklin's  twine  the  electric  tingle  sends 

Along  the  line  to  burning  fingers'  ends  ! 

While,  in  the  barn,  is  heard  the  steady  click — 

Of  patient  farmer's  swinging  swingle-stick  ; 

Addresses  paying  to  the  stubborn  flax. 

Whose  ends  must  wane,  that  cobbler's  ends  may  wax. 

Like  tireless  pendulum  of  ancient  clock, 

His  hours  of  toil  he  numbers,  stroke  on  stroke. 

The  floating  fibres  in  the  dressing  maul'd — 

Form  round  his  rounded  poll,  too  early  bald, 

And  thus,  from  useful  toil,  at  night  returns, 

To  where  the  hemlock  backlog  cracks  and  burns  ; 

Sinks  in  the  settle  with  a  peruke  big — 

Like  English  baronet  in  periwig. 

The  annual  "  Trainings"  of  the  time  gone  by, 
Reviewed,  old  friend,  by  us — when  you  and  I 
Met  on  the  muster-ground  just  by  yon  hill, 
Will  "  march  along  "  in  pleasant  mem'r}^  still ! 
The  great  Militia — Floodwood-Infantry, 


Centennial  Waif.  10.5 

Light  Infantry,  and  crazy  Cavalry, 

Came  marching,  riding,  limping  to  the  squeak — 

I  hear  even  now  the  fife  and  bugle  speak ! 

'Tis  well,  ye  Wellingtons  of  Campton  plain, 

That  your  Napoleons  lived  to  fight  again ! 

When  Yankee,  Yankee  met  in  mortal  fray, 

Both  armies  whipped  ;  each  gained  the  glorious  day ! 

When  "  in  they  went" — then  came  of  war  the  tug — 

Crack !  went  decanter — bang !  went  broken  jug — 

Even  feather'd  Generals  shared  the  general  joy, 

With  banner'd  regiment,  and  barefoot  boy  ! 

The  "  Raising  "  was  a  time  uproarious,  not 

To  be  ignored,  neglected,  or  forgot ; 

The  old  house  must  be  razed,  and  raised  the  "  new  " — 

One  falls  to  earth,  the  other  springs  to  view — 

Up,  up,  it  goes — a  hundred-shoulder  tug, 

Down,  down,  it  flows — from  flask,  decanter,  jug : 

All  in  good  spirits  to  their  homes  repair. 

Their  castles  bracing  in  the  bracing  air. 

A  little  getting  up,  and  getting  down 

Of  spirits,  mark  the  growth  of  man  and  town  ; 

And  if  a  man  may  ever  (once)  carouse. 

It  should  be  when  he  rears  a  dwelling-house  ! 

The  "  Husking,"  "  Paring  bee,"  and  such  as  that 

Behold — the  youth  pared  off",  in  quiet  chat ; 

The  red  ears  found,  the  ominous  seeds  declared. 

The  corn — acknowledged — and  the  lovers  paired ! 

I  note  the  old  brown  school-house,  on  the  hill — 

(Roll  back  those  school-boy  days — let  these  stand  still) 

I  mark  the  hollow,  where  the  high  bridge  stood 

Rock-braced,  against  the  roaring,  raging  flood 

Whose  surging  tides  in  bursting  torrents  tear 

The  riven  gorge,  through  which  it  rages  there. 

Fit  emblem  thou,  of  man,  O  restless  stream — 


106  Centennial  Celebration. 

Above  thy  falls  the  limpid  waters  gleam — 

Above  the  falls,  man  seldom  stops  to  think 

How  soon  the  life-boat  strikes  the  cataract's  brink ; 

But,  rave  ye  waters — stand  ye  flinty  rock  ! 

The  centuries  old  have  felt  thy  throbbing  shock  ; 

Steer  well,  O  boatman — gird  ye  for  the  leap, — 

Hold  fast  the  oar,  and  skim  the  vortex  deep  ! 

The  raging  stream  whose  angry  torrents  bound. 

In  whirling  surges  to  the  level  ground  ; 

Goes  singing  through  the  meadow  to  the  main, 

Its  music  mingling  with  the  soul's  refrain. 

How  like  th'  unguided  youth's  impetuous  course — 

It  glides,  then  dashes  from  the  placid  source ; 

Now,  far  meandering  through  the  mazy  glen  ; 

Now,  backward  turning  to  th'  abodes  of  men  ; 

The  widening  current  of  this  pulsing  life. 

Winds  through  broad  fields  of  duty — joy  and  strife — 

Till  run  its  course,  (if  well),  in  conscious  pride 

Shakes  hands  with  Time,  and  mingles  with  the  Tide  ! 

Thus  ever,  ever,  ever,  on  like  thee, 

Man,  moved  or  moving,  passes  to  the  sea  ; 

O,  may  my  falls,  like  thine,  precede  the  flow 

Of  tranquil  waters  through  the  vale  below  ! 

So  may  we  all,  on  Time's  impetuous  stream. 

Sail  for  that  port  whose  crj'stal  waters  gleam  ; 

And  bear,  at  last,  the  fruitage  of  life's  plain. 

On  stronger  current  to  the  boundless  main. 

Stand  on  yon  hill  where  the  old  school  house  stood 

Like  bastion'd  fortress,  high  above  the  flood  ; 

Look  down  within  the  awful  gorge — behold 

The  cave,  where  silver  (sought,)  sank  farm  and  gold, 

That  riven  rocl<  the  primal  ages  saw 

At  time's  first  dawning,  without  seam  or  flaw  ; 

But,  touch'd  by  speculation's  wizard  wand. 


Centennial    Waif.  107 

It  belch'd  forth  fossils,  fire  and  yellow  sand. 

Not  sand  Pactolian — with  the  "  nuggets  "  fraught, 

Not  that  for  which  the  awful  cave  was  wrought ; 

There  speculation  bored,  through  farm  and  flint, 

A  sinuous  hole — and  sank  the  farm  within't. 

You  well  remember  how,  on  quivering  foot, 

The  hopeful  mortals  sought  the  shining  "  root ". 

And  how,  alas  !  we  saw  the  "  opening"  close. 

O'er  all  their  hopes — but  not  o'er  all  their  woes. 

This  much,  lest  superstitious  eyes  behold 

The  awful  labyrinth,  of  which  I've  told, 

And  think  it  pierced  old  primeval  rock 

And  never  felt  the  speculation  shock ! 

A  haunt  for  ghouls  or  fays  from  time  untold. 

And  not  a  cave  where  Fortune  hid  her  gold. 

No  subterranean  sprite  or  goblin  grim 

Shall  loiter  there  upon  the  rivers  brim  ; 

Shake  not  ye  tremulous  wights  that  venture  there. 

No  monetary  wizard — bull  or  bear — 

Will  greet  you  in  that  Wall  street  under  ground — 

Go  in — explore — there's  something  to  be  found  ! 

There  is,  for  some  bold  youth,  an  opening  still ; 

The  yellow  dirt  exists  in  that  great  till ; 

And  if  you  find  (secure  from  waste  or  harm,) 

The  old  deposits  safe — you'll  find  a  farm  ! 

I  well  remember  how  the  money  flew. 

In  quarts,  (not  granite  quartz)  and  you. 

Old  friend,  who  rose  with  me  to  read  and  spell. 

Remember  how  its  issues  rose  and  fell ! 

I  kept  no  record  of  the  rise  or  fall, 

Or  circulation  ;  but  opine  that  Wall 

Or  even  State  Street,  in  their  blasting  way, 

Not  mor*  than  equals,  in  this  greenback  day. 

Thus,  speculations  run  into  the  ground —  • 

The  "  root,"  more  seldom  than  the  evil's  found — 


lOS  ,        Centennial  Celebration. 

The  •'  love  "  of  money  lures,  now  here,  now  there, 

0  friend,  of  such  a  miser  love,  beware  ! 

Much  might  be  better  said  (in  better  rhymes,) 
Of  habits,  manners,  customs  and  the  times ; 
Had  not  our  Orator,  in  glowing  deed. 
Held  up  the  mirror  till  we  see,  not  read  ; 
'Tis  well,  to  me  the  rhyming  range  is  given, 
Where  minstrel  ne'er  has  sung  nor  poet  striven  ; 
O'er  broadest  fields  the  muse  has  sought  the  forms 
Of  worth  and  beauty,  that  survive  the  storms 
Of  chance  and  change  ;  to  paint,  as  best  I  may. 
The  characters  that  live  while  men  decay. 
But  while  beneath  th'  immortal  theme  I  stand, 
The  conscious  coloring  fades  in  artless  hand  ; 
And  thus,  I  trace  upon  the  canvas  nought 
As  it  has  shone  in  ev'ry  burning  thought. 
But,  ere  I  note  the  deeper  thought  that  springs, 

1  pass  to  touch  the  tops  of  passing  things  ; 
To  wile  away  my  half-hour,  and  with  you 
The  charms  of  life  in  social  joy  renew. 

Since  we  all  left  the  old  brown  school-house  last. 

The  college,  (if  not  entered)  has  been  past ; 

The  "  learned  professions,"  must  have  learned  to  yield 

For  fairer  promise  in  a  broader  field  ! 

Your  sons  (all  bachelors  of  noblest  art) 

Appear  to  claim  their  high  commencement  part ; 

And  if  no  learned  Professors  grace  the  fete. 

Your  men  (of  faculty)  adorn  the  State. 

Your  teeming  fields — ye  sturdy  yeomanry, 

From,  envy's  eye  and  traflfic's  train  are  free  ; 

Here,  guided,  thought  may  view  the  loftier  plain. 

Where  Wisdom  binds  her  sheaves  of  golden  grain. 

Old  Galileo  said — the  earth  "  does  move  "  ! 

This  trutlf  your  steeds  with  steaming  nostrils  prove  ; 


Centennial   Waif.  109 

0*er  yon  bald  peak  the  bridled  lightning  flies — 

The  brazen  steed  to  herald  up  the  skies  ! 

Now  genius  threads  the  sea  with  conscious  wire — 

Equator  calls  to  pole  with  tongue  of  fire  ; 

And  harnessed  Thought  transcends  all  mythic  flight, 

As  flaming  chariots  wheel  the  star-paved  height/ 

The  muse,  delighted,  pauses  here  to  note 

The  changes  that  along  the  seasons  float ; 

Since  our  young  fathers  came,  through  fortune's  frown. 

To  build  a  home,  and  dedicate  a  Town — 

To  view  the  pleasures  toil  and  genius  bring, 

And  winnow  fact  from  fancy,  on  the  wing. 

Now,  garner'd  wealth  foils  speculation's  flight ; 

As  fiery  fountains  flood  the  world  with  light — 

Nevada  yields  her  gold,  for  iron  pave 

To  band  the  prairie  to  Pacific's  wave  / 

Ye  who  ne'er  leave  th'  expanding  intervale, 

Nor  from  yon  summits  view  the  bellying  sail ; 

Heirs  of  the  sod,  ye  know  not  of  the  charms. 

That  Nature  holds  in  her  extended  arms  / 

Ye  cannot  know  how  fair,  how  passing  grand, 

The  landscape  where  your  cottage-houses  stand  ; 

Ye  see  the  "  hay  stacks"  in  the  distance  rise, 

Ascend  them  /  and  commune  with  earth  and  skies. 

O  GENIUS,  lead  the  way — the  truth  confess — 

Emancipate,  restore,  redeem  and  bless. 

Hope,  undismayed,  has  waited  for  thee  long ; 

Religion  has  not  purged  the  land  from  wrong — 

(Though  nearer  truth  a  weeping  Nation  stood 

While  passing  through  War's  great  baptismal  flood.) 

And  ye  who  read  my  verse,  bear  with  me  well, 

If  I  am  wrong,  the  rising  age  will  tell ; 

If  I  am  right — O  Freeman,  soldier  brave. 

Give  thanks  to  God  that  He  has  raised  the  slave. 

And  never,  never,  never,  nevermore. 


110  Centennial  Celebration. 

May  Christian  bolt  the  ransomed  Freedman's  door ; 

But  see  in  Nature,  God's  unerring  plan — 

Impartial  Freedom  is  the  right  of  man  ! 

Our  fathers,  through  the  forests,  heard  the  roar 

Of  hostile  cannon  on  the  eastern  shore  ; 

They  left  their  homes  to  save  this  glorious  land 

And,  gaining  freedom,  rested  by  the  strand. 

The  grand  reveille  of  the  cannonade, 

From  Bunker  Hill  call'd  to  this  peaceful  glade 

In  thunders  audible — the  low  sub-base 

Of  War's  great  organ,  shaking  Time  and  space ! 

Then  turned  the  fathers  backward,  to  the  sea. 

To  strike  for  Country,  God  and  Liberty  ! 

To  fling  the  gate  of  glorious  canopies  ope — 

That  sons  of  toil  might  see  the  light  of  hope ! 

Shared  is  the  honor  by  the  gallant  son 

Whose  father's  father  fell  in  fight  begun  ! 

Enough  of  duty  for  their  strength  and  day. 

The  forest,  crown,  and  Treason  all  gave  way ; 

Their  lives  show  much  of  manly  duty  done — 

There's  something,  still,  of  victory  to  be  won  ! 

Thy  son,  New  Hampshire,  gave  the  earliest  blood 

That  mingled  with  the  wave  of  War's  last  flood. 

At  early  dawn  of  most  illustrious  day, 

The  seal  was  broke — the  stone  was  rolled  away  ; 

And  O,  may  He  who  burst  the  bolted  tomb, 

Raise  our  dear  land  in  freedom's  deathless  bloom  ! 

"  Good  will  on  earth  " — let  "  peace  "  descend  again. 

And  North  with  South  unite  in  sweet  refrain  ; 

Bedeeming  love  has  crowned  heroic  fight — 

A  race  redeemed — a  morn  to  slavery's  night ! 

Our  fathers'  faith  caught  freedom's  earliest  beam, 
That  through  the  conflict  shed  a  fitful  gleam  ; 
And  through  Time's  vistas  led  the  onward  way 


Centennial   Waif.  Ill 

Adown  the  ages,  to  this  glorious  day ! 

Their  light  shone  in  the  future  ;  bright,  intense. 

Unseen  till  angel  voices  called  them  hence. 

As  we  survey  the  records,  clear  and  bright, 

Their  pillar  glows  in  lines  of  living  light ! 

Hard  by  yon  ridge  where  stood  my  father's  cot, 

(The  winding  lane  and  gateway  mark  the  spot) 

Behold,  prepared,  a  more  enduring  home, 

From  which  their  weary  feet  may  never  roam. 

Abode  most  fair !  no  frosts — no  wintry  air — 

Nor  Time — nor  change — can  mar  the  mansion  fair  ; 

No  toils  unfinished — no  descending  sun  ; 

No  hastening  night,  to  close  the  task  undone ; 

No  blighted  hopes — no  friendships  broken  there  ; 

No  slanderer's  tongue,  to  taint  the  peaceful  air ; 

No  thirst  for  gain — no  strife  for  power,  or  place  ; 

No  furrow'd  lines  upon  the  anxious  face  ; 

No  sin — no  sorrow — no  farewells — no  tears  ; 

No  young  hopes  mingled  with  consuming  fears  ; 

No  expectations  false — no  friends  untrue  ; 

No  scenes  of  separation  chill  the  view ; 

But  one  great  gathering  scene  of  friends,  again — 

Unmarked  hy  centuries  of  toil  and  pain  ; 

As,  one  by  one,  in  closing  ranks  they  come, 

"We  note  our  "  day's  march  nearer,  nearer  Home  "  ! 

And  who  will  say,  unseen,  they  may  not  view 

This  joy  centennial,  which  I  share  with  you? 

Else,  why  so  full,  so  perfect,  so  complete 

The  common  joy,  if  but  the  children  meet? 

A  little  season  since,  just  by  the  spot 

On  which  this  happy  home-throng  sees  them  not, 

I  shared,  with  them,  the  almost  rapturous  joy, 

To  happy  hearers  sang — a  happy  boy  ! 

The  simple  strains  then  tuned,  in  artless  glee, 

My  little  singer  now  returns  to  me. 


112  Centennial  Celebration. 

Does  fancy  err?  still,  on  its  pinion  free, 

Old  friend,  I'll  think  thj-^  parents  list  to  thee/ 

And,  be  it  so,  tell  j'e  th'  ungarnished  truth ; 

The  simple  story  of  their  age  and  youth  ; 

And  monumental  bust  ye  need  not  raise, 

Nor  lettered  pomp,  to  consecrate  their  praise. 

Descended  in  a  more  than  royal  line, 

Ye  sons  of  toil,  your  hopes,  your  joys  are  mine ; 

Let  others  boast  heraldic  fame,  and  birth  ; 

Sons  of  the  great  who  rule  th'  affairs  of  earth  ; 

But  ye  may  boast,  and  none  dispute  your  claim. 

An  ancestry  whose  worth  is  not  in  name  ; 

"Whose  modest  merit  gives  example  bright, 

Whose  history  glows  in  acts  of  living  right. 

"  Their  names  and  j'ears  "  it  matters  not  to  tell. 

On  deeds,  not  names,  the  muse  delights  to  dwell ; 

Their  record  read  o'er  all  the  furrow'd  ground, 

"  Who  seeks  their  epitaph,  should  gaze  around  "  / 

Such  were  the  men,  intelligent  and  true. 

Who  felled  the  forests,  cleared  the  fields  we  view ; 

Such  the  firm  j-eomanry — a  State's  best  wealth, 

Whose  hope  was  happiness,  whose  fortune  health.. 

My  parent-pilot,  (to  this  sheltering  shore,) 

O'er  pearly  wave  still  passes  on  before  ! 

Of  fate,  or  fortune,  now  no  more  the  sport — 

Through  quiet  haven  passed  to  tranquil  port. 

Affection  claims — I  yield  the  homage  due — 

These  furrowed  fields  an  imaged  form  renew ; 

Devotion  filial  all  these  scenes  constrain — 

That  close,  and  ope  the  century's  gate  again  / 

And  one,  I  notice — one,  my  noble  friend, 
Who,  ah  !  too  early  reach'd  the  journey's  end  ; 
One,  who  has  given  the  Granite  Hills  a  tongue — 
And  gone — to  hear  his  own  sweet  music  sung  ; 


Centennial  Waif.  113 

One,  whom  in  my  poor  verse  I  need  not  name, 

Since  iiill  and  vale  are  vocal  with  his  fame ; 

With  whom  (an  honor  of  which  justly  proud), 

I  scaled  yon  mountain-peak,  above  the  cloud — 

Drank  rarest  bliss  from  the  supernal  height, 

O'er  which  his  genius  took  its  lofty  flight  / 

From  the  charm'd  haunts  explored  with  joy  elate, 

He  turned,  reluctant,  for  the  Golden  Gate, 

Which  soon  was  reached — and  soon  (life's  journey  o'er) 

He  found  repose  on  a  still  fairer  shore. 

Just  when  his  towering  genius  saved  a  State — 

(Fame  wove  the  civic  wreath  for  him  to  wait) 

When  East  and  West  clasped  hands  in  joj'  to  fling 

The  victor's  crown  on  their  young  idol.  King — 

Then,  Wave  to  Mountain  roU'd  a  tidal  sigh — 

And  earth  unbarred  the  portal  of  the  sky ; 

In  sunset  glory — radiant  in  its  flight, 

A  STAB  was  lost  in  Morn's  celestial  light.* 

Life  has  been  busy — more  a  page  of  prose, 

And  earnest  effort,  than  poetic  woes — 

By  kindliest  invitation,  I  have  wrought 

My  little  verse,  with  little  merit  fraught : 

My  half-hour,  fleeting,  hastens  to  its  close — 

I've  jotted  as  I  could — not  as  I  chose  ; 

From  further  rambling  you  will  soon  be  safe — 

For  now  the  current  bears  away  my  waif ! 

Arise,  O  man  !  to  nobler,  higher  aims  ; 

A  loftier  life  still  higher  effort  claims  ; 

To  loftiest  theme,  then,  bend  the  stubborn  will, 

*NOTE.  The  late,  Reverend  T.  Stan- Kinj?,  and  William  H.  Richardson, 
Es(|-,  ascended  Mount  Washinffton,  with  the  writer,  on  horseback,  in  the 
autumn  of  1859,  That  was  the  liltieth,  and,  it  is  believed,  the  last  ascent  of 
the  mountain  1)V  the  illustrious  Divine;  of  wliose  closing  career  Lieutenant 
Cjeneral  Winilcld  Scott  stated,  that  California  would  have  sided  witli  Trea- 
son (in  1800)  if  the  voung  and  gifted  King  had  not  devoted  his  genius,  and 
given  the  power  of  his  lofty  e]o(|uence,  traversing  the  State,  in  the  cause  of 
his  country  and  of  freedom.  The  United  States  Senatorship  was  spoken  of 
as  his  reward. 


114  Centennial  Celebration. 

And  gain,  each  night,  a  day's  march  up  the  hill. 

Now  springs  to  view  the  quaint  old  meeting-house, 

"Where  first  I  listened  to  Devotion's  vows ; 

More  sacred  still  appears  the  ancient  form, 

"Which  sheltered  youth  from  sin's  descending  storm. 

More  than  a  century's  third  has  passed  away — 

But  that  "  first  lesson"  passed  not  with  the  day  ! 

O,  what  a  "  Word  " — a  helm  of  saving  power. 

For  fainting  pilgiims  in  the  mortal  hour. 

Teach  me,  O  precious  Word — I  still  would  learn 

The  good  to  gain — the  evil  to  discern  ; 

Save  from  intruding  love  of  fruitless  fame  ; 

The  cymbal-tinklings  of  a  hollow  name  ; 

Save  from  Ambition  false — that  phantom  thing 

With  tongue  of  siren,  and  with  scorpion  sting  ; 

O  man  !  the  song  she  sings  o'er  flowing  bowl, 

Will  drown  the  senses,  desolate  the  soul. 

Then  take  th'  Evangel  for  thy  guard,  and  guide, 

And  thou,  on  steady  wing,  shalt  upward  glide 

Through  all  the  hovering  clouds  of  boding  ill, 

And  gain,  at  last,  the  summit  of  life's  hill. 


Names  of  the  Early  Settlers  of  Campion.  115 


NAMES  OF  THE  EARLY  SETTLERS. 

Kames  of  the  early  settlers  of  the  town  of  Campton,  the  date 

of  their  coming  to  town, — the  number  of  their  families, — and 
the  region  from  whence  they  came: 

1762.  Isaac  Fox,  Connecticut. 

1762.  Winthrop  Fox,  a  nephew. 

1763.  Isaac  Fox,  Jr.,  and  his  mother  and  his  family. 

1763.  Enocli  Taylor,  and  family. 

1764.  Joseph  Spencer,  son  of  Gen.  Jabez  Spencer. 

1768.  Abel  Willey,  seven  children,  the  fifth  family  in  town. 

1769.  Benaijah  Fox,  the  son  of  Isaac,  Jr.,  was  the  first  male 

child  born  in  town.    A  daughter  of  Hobart  Spen- 
cer, was  born  the  same  year. 

1769.  Hobart  Spencer,  six  cliildren. 

1769.  Darius  Willey,  seven  children. 

1769,  Moses  Little,  six  children,  Massachusetts. 

1769.  Samuel  Fuller,  six  children, 

1769,  Daniel  Wyatt,  nine  children,  Massachusetts, 

1769.  Duvid  Perkins,  eight  children,  Massachusetts. 

1769.  Joseph  Pulsifer,  eleven  children,  Massachusetts, 

1769,  Gershom  Burbank,  six  children,  Massachusetts. 

1770,  Asa  Spencer,  seven  children,  Connecticut. 
1770.  Jesse  Willey,  eight  children,  Connecticut. 
1770.  Ebenezer  Taylor,  three  children,  Connecticut. 
1770,  Joseph  Palmer,  three  children,  Massachusetts. 
1770,  Samuel  Cook,  nine  children,  Massachusetts. 
1770.  Nathaniel  Tapper,  five  children,  Massachusetts. 

1770.  James  Harvel. 

1771.  Samuel  Holmes,  Connecticut. 

1771.  Jonathan  Cone,  five  children. 

1772.  Israel  Brainard,  five  children,  Connecticut. 

1772.  Chiliab  Brainard,  five  children,  Connecticut. 

1773.  John  Southmayd,  nine  children,  Connecticut. 

1774.  Selden  Church,  seven  children.  Connecticut. 

1774.  Thomas  Bartlett,  fourteen  children,  Massachusetts. 

1775.  John  Holmes,  seven  children,  Connecticut. 

1776.  Carr  Chase,  eight  children,  Massachusetts. 

1777.  Elias  Cheney. 

1777.  William  Baker,  sixteen  children. 

1777.  Dudley  Palmer,  eight  children,  Massachusetts. 

1778.  Moses  Baker,  three  children. 

1778.  Joseph  Palmer,  six  children.  Massachusetts. 
1778.  Moody  Cook,  twelve  chlldi-en,  Massachusetts. 
1778.  Ebenezer  Cheney,  five  children. 
1778.  James  ]\Ierrill,  four  children,  Massachusetts. 
1778.  Chauncey  Holmes,  five  cliildren,  Connecticut. 
Homans,  five  children. 


1 16         Early  Settlers,  date  of  their  coming,  etc. 

1779.  Joseph  Homans,  a  son  of Homans,  two  children. 

1780.  Benjamin  Baker,  three  children. 

1780.  Jonathan  Burbank,  son  of  Gershom,  six  children. 

1781.  Israel  Blake,  three  children. 

1782.  William  Page,  six  children. 
1782.  Edmond  Marsh,  eleven  children. 

1782.  John  Marsh,  thirteen  children. 

1783.  James  Bump,  seven  children. 

1783.  Jabez  Church,  nine  children.  < 

1784.  Ezra  Tupper,  four  children. 

1785.  David  Bartlett,  six  children. 

1785.  Ichabod  Johnson,  seven  children,  Allenstown. 

1785.  John  Clark,  four  children,  Candia. 

1785.  John  Homans,  son  of Homans,  fourteen  children. 

1786.  Samuel  Cook,  Jr.,  ten  children,  Massachusetts. 

1787.  Cutting  Cook,  son  of  Samuel,  twelve  children. 
1789.  Enoch  Merrill,  nine  children,  Plymouth. 

1789.  Edward  Taylor,  Oliver  Taylor,  sons  of  Eben,  ten  chil- 

dren. 
178-.    Josiah  Blaisdell,  son  of  Nathaniel,  eight  children. 
David  French,  Massachusetts. 

1790.  Ebenezer  Bartlett,  son  of  Thomas. 

1790.    David  Wooster,  eight  children,  Connecticut. 
1790.    Isaac  Mitchell,. eight  children. 
1790.    Ephraim  Cook,  son  of  Samuel,  thirteen  children. 
1790.     Samuel  Noyes,  two  children,  Massachusetts. 
1790.    Daniel  Blaisdell,  son  of  Nathaniel,  eight  children,  Ches- 
ter. 
1790.     Stephen  Goodhue,  seven  children. 
1790.    Ebenezer  Little,  son  of  Moses,  eight  children. 

1790.  Ebenezer  Bartlett.  Jr.,  ten  children,  Massachusetts. 

1791.  James  Burbeck,  fourteen  children,  Massachusetts. 
Rowland  Percival,  nine  children,  Connecticut. 
Rowland  Percival,  Jr.,  nine  or  ten  children,  Connecti- 
cut. 

Nathaniel  Blaisdell,  three  children,  Chester. 

1792.  Samuel  Johnson. 

1792.  Joshua  Rogers,  four  children,  Connecticut. 

1792.  Joseph  Pulsifer,  Jr.,  son  of  Joseph,  seven  children. 

1792.  Darius  Willey,  Jr.,  son  of  Darius,  ten  children. 

1793.  James  Little,  son  of  Moses,  nine  children. 
1793.  Joel  Holmes,  son  of  John,  five  or  six  children. 
1793.  Jesse  Hall. 

1793.    Christopher  Noyes,  nine  children,  Massachusetts. 

1793.  Stephen  Giddings,  eight  children,  Massachusetts. 
Moses  Pulsifer,  sou  of  Joseph,  eight  children. 
Stephen  Giddings,  nine  children,  Massachusetts. 
Samuel  Chandler,  three  children,  Hampstead. 

1794.  Samuel  Merrill,  thirteen  children,  Plymouth. 
1794.    Enoch  Merrill,  six  children. 

1802.  Elijah  Hatch,  seven  children. 

1803.  Thomas  Cook,  son  of  Samuel,  eleven  children. 


Roll  of  Honor.  1J7 

1804.  Isaac  Willey,  son  of  Darius,  eight  children. 

1805.  John  Pulsifer,  son  of  Joseph,  eleven  children. 
1805.  Peter  Blair,  ten  children,  Holderness. 

1807.  William  Glddings,  eight  children,  Massachusetts. 

1809.  Eobert  Smith,  ten  children. 

1820.  Daniel  Wyatt,  son  of  Daniel,  six  children. 


CAMPTON'S  ROLL  OF  HONOR. 


Second  Regiment. 
John  Chandler,  wounded.  'William  Alexander. 

Fourth  Begiment. 

Walter  S.  Johnson,  died  of  disease. 

Sixth  Begiment. 

Hiram  O.  Berry.  George  L-  Rogers. 

Charles  E.  Berry,  died  of  disease.  Reuben  P.  Smith. 

Heber  L.  Chase,  wounded.  Jason  Webster,  died  of  disease. 

Wm.  W.  Farmer,  died  ol  wounds.  Benjaram  F.  Berry. 

Benjamin  A.  Ham.  Luther  Farmer,  died  of  disease. 

Frank  E.  Hodgrman,  died  of  disease.  Oliver  W.  Lovett. 

Richard  Pattee,  wounded.  Daniel  M.  Sanborn. 

Eighth  Begiment, 

John  8.  Avery.  Daniel  Piper,  wounded. 

Leonard  P.  lienton. 

Ninth  Begiment. 

Luther  S.  Mitchell,  taken  piisoner. 

Twelfth  Begiment. 

Martin  V.  B.  Avery,  wounded.  D.    F.   A.    Goss,     taken     prisoner, 
Edwin  Avery,  starved,  taken  priso-       wounded. 

ner,  wounded.  N.  Lyman  Merrill. 

Ezra  B.  Burbank,  taken  prisoner,  Albert  Merrill,  taken  prisoner. 

wounded.  John  N.  Marsh,  died  of  disease. 

Bufus  F.  Bickford.  Edwin  Pronk. 

Orlando  Durgin,  died  of  disease.  William  H.  Rogers,  killed. 

C.  C.  Durgin,  died  of  disease.  William  H.  Stickney,  wounded. 

George  W.  Gordon,  wounded.  Orrin  Wallace,  killed. 

Thirteenth  Begiment. 

Manson  L.  Brown.  Nathan  Pierce. 

Jason  Elliot.  Alfred  Webster. 

Simon  T.  Elliot,  killed.  Wooster  E.  Woodbury,  wounded. 

Fourteenth  Regiment. 

Abner  H.  Lougee.  Freeman  L.  Monlton. 

John  D.  Morse.  James  O.  Ward,  wounded. 

Frevman  Moulton. 


118  Roll  of  Honor. 

Fifteenth  Regiment. 

Henry  D.  Wyatt.  Edwin  A.  Hart,  died  after  reaching 
Fred  A.  Mitchell.  home  of  disease. 
Samuel  S.  Mitchell.  Joseph  Brown,  Jr.,  died  after  reach- 
Joseph  C.  Blair,  Jr.  ing  home  of  disease. 
Benjamin  F.  Adams,  killed.  William  F.  Mitchell. 
Henrj'  Cook,  died  on  way  home  of  James  F.  Merrill. 

disease.  Geo.    W.   Plnmmer,  wounded,  died 

George  A.  Page,  died  on  way  home  of  wounds. 

of  disease.  David  Webster. 

Cyrus  Burbeck,  died  on  way  home  Charles  H.  WlUey. 

of  disease. 

Eighteenth  liegiment. 

William  E.  Brown.  John  H.  Plummer. 

William  A.  Chandler.  John  P.  Patterson,  died  of  disease. 

Samuel  H.  Dow.  Horace  W.  Smith. 

Benjamin  Evans,  Jr.  George  P.  Tarlsen. 

Ozias  J.  Holmes.  William  G.  Thompson. 

John  M.  Purkis. 


Sharpshooters. 


Alfred  E.  Foss. 


Cavalry. 

Benjamin  M.  Johnson,  taken  prisoner  and  never  heard  from. 

Enlisted  in  other  States. 

John  M.  Flint,  surgeon.  John  C.  Chase. 

George  Cook,  died  of  disease.  Alfred  Merrill. 

Steven  Brown,  died  of  disease.  Geo.  H.  Keniston. 

Danford  M.  Rowe.  George  Smith. 

Harris  B.  Mitchell.  '  Clark  Smith. 

Hermon  C.  Stickney.  Simeon  D.  Smith. 

Total  enlistments  in  Regiments  in  the  State,  seventy-flve.  Total  enlist- 
ments in  Regiments  in  other  States,  twelve.  Making  total  enlistments 
ft"om  Carapton,  eighty-seven.  Six  of  whom  were  taken  prisoners;  four 
killed ;  fourteen  wounded ;  four  died  of  wounds ;  eighteen  died  of  disease. 

Number  of  substitutes  furnished  by  citizens  of  Campton^  thirty-seven. 
Number  of  men  called  for  during  the  war,  ninety-nine.  Enlisted  in  town 
Beventy-flve.  Recruits  furnished,  thirty-seven.  Total,  one  hundred  and 
twelve.    Surplus,  thirteen. 


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